I won a seat to the main list year via satellite. Was down to 1.7bb and went on a sun run of all sun runs. Knocked out 38 people to win.... it was the biggest jinx of my poker life. Ever since then I get it in well ahead only to be floored by 3,2,1 outers constantly. The run up to the main was painful but the main was a tough one. Ran my stack up to 156k heading to the last break of the night. Get AA cracked right before last break with a guy shoving 38k with 22. His a 2 on the turn. Go to break come back to AA getting cracked by 97o. Flopped a 9 on a 935 rainbow. Guy jams and I literally think to fold for a sec before I call. Hits a 7 on the river. Bagged 27k to get knocked out on day the second hand of day 2 with AK vs AQ. Flopped a A only to be rivered by Q.... then the real downswing began. I get the worst run out of cards I've ever had. Just yesterday I make a huge hero call with a set of 6s vs a set of 4s on the money bubble only to hit the case 4 on the river. I wonder will it end at this point. I feel your pain.

I know the feeling, but I think it's just PokerBROS.

But I play in these 1-3 and 2-5 live games where 5 or 6 are terrible players. There's little risk of me going broke unless I feel like gambling or just get coolered (which seems you have several times). Instead of raking in 4-600 every few sessions but having a losing session in between I just small ball it and win 8 or 9 out of 10 sessions to the tune of 100-300.

I know some of the plays would not be considered "optimal" and I'd play differently against tougher players but there's zero reason to gamble with those people. Just take a couple weeks off, exercise, and come back thinking fresher about your strategy.

I’m pretty convinced the guys that are still poker pros have simply never hit the extended downswing yet that everyone will experience if you play enough poker. Those guys might think now they’re that much better than everyone else, but the torrid downswing that ends the dream for them will hit them too at some point.

I deal with this reality by reinforcing to myself no matter how good or bad my poker career goes I will NEVER TURN PRO.

Also, who the f wants to look like guys like dwan or haxton in their late 30s??

I've thought about that a lot too. I watched an interview with Joe Mcheehen (sp?) Recently and he said something I'm sure a lot don't get.

A lot of those that became successful just were lucky not to experience any major downswing near the beginning of their career. They hit a couple big tournaments, or got a few magical cards in the right moments in huge cash game pots that put them in the right position to succeed.

I do find it doubtful if someone has played for 15-20 years they've never experienced a big downswing though.

In a good live game your win rate should be insane, so I don't see how a 500k downswing is possible (unless you just suck)

In a live game you belong in, that should never happen. Unless you're just on the complete opposite end of the spectrum from the luckiest gamblers in the world. 500k hands of live poker is closing in on a lifetime probably (no I didn't do the math, that's why I said probably)