Poker strategy essays
No Limit Texas
Holdem Poker: Handling Losing Streaks
By Martin Fromage
It’s sad but true: if you play any
kind of poker long enough, you’re going to hit a losing
streak. No-Limit Texas Holdem is definitely not an
exception. The best pros in the world will tell you
there’s just no avoiding a stretch of play where you’re
running badly. It’s really only a matter of time.
However, it’s what you do when a bad stretch hits
that makes all the difference to your continued success.
Take a Break
The easiest way to stop a losing streak? Take a break.
No-one says you have to go to the casino or log on
to an online
casino every day, or even every week. If you
feel like things aren’t going your way, take a few
days off. Take some time to revisit things you maybe
haven’t seen in a while. Like, say, the sun. Or a
park. Or people who don’t even play cards. Don’t make
the same mistake so many have done before you, walk
over to the video poker
machines, start playing online caribbean
stud or take part in some game where you can’t
have an edge. Chances are good you’ll get back to
the tables refreshed and with a new perspective. Every
session is a new opportunity to start your next winning
streak and the cards have no clue you’re in a slump.
They’re just cards.
Take a Look at Your Game
It could be bad luck. It really could. A statistically
rare stretch of bad luck even. Or the opposite could
be true. Good luck may have hidden leaks in your play
and you’ve been winning despite yourself. Either
way, most of us make mistakes in our game. No matter
how good we think we are an extended losing streak
is a great time to step back and analyze your game
for those leaks. Think back on those bad beats or
sessions you walked away a loser, and ask if there
was anything you could reasonably have done differently
to change the result. And the key here is 'reasonably'.
Not telling yourself you should have folded with 9h
3h and a 9-3-6 flop and an opponent put you all-in
with 4d 5s and won with a seven on the river. But
considering maybe you shouldn’t have played 9h 3h
in the first place.
Take a Stand
Folding your pocket queens pre-flop because they’ve
been cracked five straight times is no way to play
poker. Neither is playing marginal hands because you
'can’t win with big hands'. As long as you’re playing
correctly... the only way to get back on track is
just keep playing correctly; things will even out
if you do. Playing carelessly or scared because of
past results is fatal. Absolutely fatal. Being unlucky
is no excuse to change your game. And playing badly
is definitely not going to change your luck for the
better.
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