Lost $2k now in the last 75k hands at 25 and 50. Now breakeven for 300k hands. I've decided I am gonna commit another $1k and if that gets lost I'm done with this game.

Reduces variance, doesn't affect EV. Good for the individual player, bad for the games imo.

Variance can be an absolute bitch, but I can also guarantee that it'll only be a small part of the story. There'll be other factors - Has your technical ability slipped? What % of the time do you play your A/B/C/Z game? Do you ruin otherwise good sessions with frequent big mistakes? Etc.... The first thing is to truthfully analyse yourself, then you need to work on fixing the leaks you find. And when I say work I mean actually take proactive steps - just saying "I don't play my A game very much, so I'll just start trying to play my A game better" doesn't cut it.

I'm not blaming variance or bad luck at all. I'm blaming myself.....I'm not good enough to win at this game anymore. Simple as that.

Is that all Zoom or you back playing the normal tables?

90% zoom.

I would quit Zoom.

Thats game is really addictive though and it is really hard to transition away from it. I can see why people playing full time play it but as a side income off your regular job I just think playing the normal tables makes sense.

If I were you I would play the normal tables for a month and see what happens but I give that advice as someone who has been down a similar path to yourself but got stuck in an awful cycle and couldnt see it and it wasnt until I banned myself from playing Zoom/Rush that things turned around for the better. Only thing for me though was it took me nearly 2 years to realize it.

in what way is it bad for the games?

Reduced variance means fish go bust quicker. Variance is the only reason they play the game in the first place, and the reason that other low variance games like chess don't get complete fish sitting down to play with pros for hundreds of dollars.

Well that's the first step, but what are you going to do, just burn through another grand or take steps to fix things? (I mean that in the most supportive way possible btw!)

I mean it's not like I'm not trying. I still post strat semi-regularly on 2p2, I am an active member in a small skype group of top players at my level, I watch videos at least every other day, and regularly re-read poker books and COTW's etc. Whilst I could always do more, I can assure you I'm not the laziest learner out there. And having tried all of that, for months on end with no effect, eventually the will to carry on drains away. For years my committment to poker has been pretty high, especially considering that I have 2 kids / family / stressful job etc. but eventually, even given all the committment, the game catches up with your natural ability to absorb/learn/adjust and starts to diminish your win-rate. I guess I wouldn't be the first person who used to be able to healthily beat the games who has now quit.

Ive always been very critical of Zoom and could not understand why anyone would want to play it when there is software like TST to aid in table selection.

But recently .. i played a little Zoom and actually found it easier to put in the volume that way compared to say stacking 16 tables.

I did pop back to the regular tables and found almost straight away i was being more rushed than i was 4 tabling Zoom.

Granted the tables are not as great but i think you play better post flop in Zoom than compared to stacking a load of tables.

The fact its a instant start and stop is appealing to someone like me that does not seem to put in that many hours.

Cant believe im saying this ...

have you thought about trying another game, mtts for example on a soft site like winamax? could be what you need, a change.

Fair enough. However with all that work you put in, which is more than 90% of other players imo, there's got to be something that's not quite working. I find it hard to believe that a smart guy like yourself who is putting work in to their game isn't handily beating the games. It's definitely possible that you are just on a ridiculous downswing that would crush anybody, but it's possible there are other issues like mental issues that are letting you down, or that your learning methods are ineffectual.

Why do you play? Is it for the extra income? , is it the enjoyment of beating the game? or something else?

That's not a smart-ass question (if it sounds that way), just curious as maybe your reason for playing can help you decide what to do.

If winning isn't your main reason to play then possibly a step down in levels may rekindle the fun/enjoyment aspect and also let you gain confidence and ride out your run bad.

Because you posted something similar last month it seems your confidence/self belief is low at the moment


GL

I'm not sure how to say what I want to say without sounding like a penis or a drooler, but maybe you're just overreacting a bit to what could very easily be variance? I mean it's 75k hands where you lost money, or overall break-even over 300k hands, I am 100% sure people have seen/experienced worse variance and maybe it just all seems a lot worse cause of the length of it all(I don't know how many hands a month you play, but I can imagine 300k hands being a long time if you only play 50k hands a month).

No offenSe btw
Stop trying to switch NJD to the dark side.

Not true. I don't know NJD's playing history but having a change might be exactly what he needs, it may put things in perspective, rebuild confidence, send him in unexpected positive directions, refresh him, improve his game etc, but that's up to him to decide.

btw http://thebladebrownshow.wordpress.c...-5-cent-coins/ this is gangsta

Oh hey dude hows it going?

Njd, you always post solid strat and this has to turn around at some point.

Variance is just part of the game and after crushing the games for 2mill+(?) hands i don't think you can suddenly transform into a losing player.

See this as your mental test and let it have a positive outcome on your overall performance in poker (not caring about results, understanding variance, constantly improving and understanding the game in it's true nature).

Somebody recently told me to quit the game since I can only beat the lowest stakes. Now what should be the advice to somebody who actually loses?

Move up.

If you are doing all that how is it possible not to have information overload given how much time I imagine you have to cram all that in and juggle everything else.

Anyone here watch Sons of Anarchy? This last episode may have been the best of the series so far.

The lawsuit thing is a hoax.