A friend called me the other night to tell me the following story. He had played for 9 hours and couldn't make a hand hold up. He had pocket aces cracked, straights beaten by flushes, and full houses beat by bigger full houses! He went on and on with examples of bad players that called him and outdrew him no matter how much he bet. Obviously, he bought in several times.
"What did you change?" I asked. "Nothing," he said," I only played the best hands and the best positions!".
"THAT, was your mistake!"
I replied, "When things are going wrong, you have to change something." I then proceeded to tell him what his 4 options were in a situation like that.
1. Quit
2. Change your style
3. Change seats
4. Change tables
To me, quitting and taking a small loss is always the safest option, because you freeze your losses at the point of quitting. If you continue, your losses may continue, then you go on tilt trying to recoup them. I leave, more often than not, because I know I can come back tomorrow, fresh and alert. There is also something that happens when you stay too long on a losing day. Just like sharks..... the players smell Blood and before you know it they are ALL attacking you! I'd rather come back to swim another day.
If you play regularly within the same crowd of players, leaving with a small loss will have the benefit of them giving you credit for being a disciplined player, and that will help you in the long run. Besides, when you're running bad and tighten up, you become even more readable and predictable.
These are two good reasons I choose to go home. When a pitcher is giving up runs, he changes his style. If they're hitting his fastball, he'll throw sliders. If they're slamming the curveballs, he'll throw fastballs. A poker player needs to do the same thing. If they know how you are playing and can get a decent read on you, you have to change up just like the pitcher. I've been known to throw AK preflop but play 4/5 or 5/6 offsuit in any position. I've soft-played my good hands and bet my weak hands heavily. This has worked on many occasions and started me on the way back up. Once it starts, then I slowly revert to my regular game.
Naturally, I don't condone playing all cards; especially against weaker players. You have to pick your spots and remain even more sensible than when you play your A game. Let's say you played A/2 off suit, an ace hits the board and there is a bet and a call ahead of you. You're asking for trouble if you call. That would be a sensible lay down, particularly when you are running bad. Your hopes with that hand were that no one else had an ace. The bets tell you that at least one other ace is out there with more than a deuce kicker.
When you play against solid players, they tend to weigh their decisions more carefully than the hap-hazard, loose cannon types. You know the latter; the ones that don't seem to care about money and will call with a pair of deuces on the river. it's pointless to try to make a move on those loose types. So you need to pay even closer attention to this when you are running poorly.
If I do decide to try the table a little longer, I still will not go beyond two buy ins. This is a number I know I can easily recoup on a winning day. If any seat comes open, I will move there to change my cards. There are times I have moved at least three times before I started winning pots. They say it's not the seat...it's the seater, but I believe that you must change something or die.
And many times, the player that sits in my old seat, comes in and wins a hand fairly quickly. To me, that's a sign that things are changing! One of the advantages of playing in a larger poker room is that you can change tables, change games, and change limits, just by requesting it from the floor person. If I am not doing well in a 10/20 limit game, I may switch to a 5/10 game. If I am struggling in a 4/8. I may switch to a 4/8 with a kill. If I am losing in limit Hold'em, I can switch to no-limit.
Those options are vital to my success.
The point is that you can't just sit there and wallow in misery; you have to change something! If you're one of those determined types that just refuses to take a loss, then you will be there all day trying to regain lost ground. Get out of your favorite seat or game and try something different. Get away from your buddies and go sit down with strangers. Every time you change something, it's a new beginning. Look at it as a fresh start and get rid of all the negativity. It can only get better.
