Part 1 | Part 2

#5 Make good quits: A win is a win

To get your mind right and help you deal with your downswing you need to get some positivity going on. The best way to do this is to make good quits. You’re way more likely to be thinking happy thoughts about poker if you are up 40$ on a session than if you are down $800.

When you feel like you’ve made a bad decision and you’re starting to question yourself it’s a great time to quit. The games will still be there hours from now and there will still be plenty of fish. When you’re in a downswing you have to keep as much positivity as possible, don’t let mistakes compound on themselves. If you catch yourself doing something you know you shouldn’t have, take a break and come back later when you’re feeling sharp again. If you have difficulty walking away, press the power button as soon as you make a big mistake and forget about it, staying and burning money is much worse for your bottom line than quitting when you’re stuck a bit.

I know that your main goal is to get out of this downswing as soon as possible, but you have to take it one step at a time. Put time limits on your sessions, quitting when the clock ticks regardless of how you’re sitting. Be willing to do some hit and run sessions, if you can scoop a buyin or two and go on with your day without the risk of giving it back that’s a win. And be willing to quit even if you’re stuck, it may feel like you’re going the wrong direction if you quit when you’re down but, by continuing to play with the goal of getting even you’re setting yourself up for failure as there is now ay you will be playing your A game.

 

#6 Don’t Force It: realize that you’re not gonna get out of a downswing overnight

This is when you have to accept reality. You can work your way out of this thing but it’s going to take some time. If you aren’t realistic there’s a good chance you’ll have one winning sessions at which point you’ll remember how awesome you are and decide to load up 24 tables and pump out the hands.

This again is putting yourself in a bad spot. You want to add tables slowly, work back to your limit slowly, and take the wins as they come. Don’t try to force a huge win, just take the small ones and eventually they will total a nice big fat win surrounded with positive thought.

If you try to hard to erase the downswing fast it will feel like a challenge, like a job, and it will make you really not like poker. To get back to your winning ways you have to do everything you can to enjoy the game.

  

#7 Bring Your A-Game: postive poker mindset

Another thing you should be practicing at all times but isn’t so easy during a dowswing. Only play when you feel like you are on top of your game. Your best chance to succeed is when you’re feeling sharp and looking forward to having some fun playing poker.

Woke up late feeling drowsy? Don’t play

Your team just lost the football game? Don’t play

Just finished a long walk feeling tired? Don’t play

Just ate a massive meal, feeling the ITIS? Don’t play

Just got in a fight with your wife? Don’t play

Feeling tired or upset? Don’t play

 

Like I said in the beginning of this article, when you are ready to play you’ll know it. Playing anything less than you’re A game is not only a waste of your money, it’s a waste of your time. Be smart and you can work off this downswing in as few hands as possible. The main goal is not just ‘to get out of the downswing’  it’s to play the best poker that you can, and this requires you bringing your A game to the table.

One last point, when I say your A game, I mean YOUR A game; not your best friend’s, not what you just saw on high stakes poker, not what you just saw in the latest gripsed.com video. When you are in a downswing you want to play your game and not try to add new things to it. The first priority is getting comfortable and confident again and the best way to do that is to play your own personal winning style.

 

#8 Start Learning Again: watch videos,  read articles, talk to friends

Once you’re moving in the right direction again, it’s a great time to continue your learning. Take advantages of the resources that are out there like Two Plus Two, talk with your friends, Watch Videos and continue to do what you did just now, reading articles. If you made it this far you are on the right path to getting back on track, so just keep it up!

 

See You At The Top!

-Gripsed.com

Part 1 | Part 2

Part 1 | Part 3

#2 Drop Limits

It’s not super cool and it’s not super fun, but if you want to keep your roll alive and stay in the game you’re going to have to swallow your pride and drop limits. Not only does dropping limits lower your variance it will also increase your confidence. If you were winning at a limit above before you should have no problem doing well at the lower stakes.

I also recommend mixing in some sessions at 2 limits below your regular stake so that you can really focus on playing your game without worrying about the money. There’s no better feeling than absolutely dominating a table and the easiest way to do this is to go play with the weaker players. Dropping 2 limits also allows you to play a ton of tables if that’s what you’re in the mood for since you’ll be risking much less than usual in each game.

Don’t worry if playing lower isn’t chipping away at your downswing as fast as playing higher would, the confidence that you will gain and the good habits that will be reinforced will pay long term dividends and help you become a better overall player.

If there is a big fish at your regular limit it’s still ok to play there even if you are in a downswing. As long as you have 15-20 buyins for the limit you can still ‘take shots’. The weaker the lineup the lower you can play on the buyin requirement but, NEVER play in a game if you have less than 15 buyins for that limit.

Whatever you do, DO NOT MOVE UP LIMITS TO CHASE LOSSES. It may seem like the easy solution to get the money back by playing one big pot. But the odds of you coolering the other players are the same as the odds of them coolering you, coupled with the fact that the opponents will be much stronger and you’ll be on scared money is a recipe for disaster. If you aspire to play in the big games you have to put in the work at lower limits, the worst time to take a shot is mid downswing!

 

#3 Play GOOD Games

Even the 9^th worst poker player in the world can be a winner if he’s playing with the 8 worse players than himself. While this is something you should be practicing all the time, a downswing is a very important time to be practicing good game selection.

You want to be focusing your attention on the soft spots and trying to play the majority of your pots with the weak players in the mix. The regulars are going to put you in tough spots, and when you are in a downswing and your confidence is low the last thing you want to do is be making tough decisions in close spots.

Whether its won from a strong player or a weak player money is money, so target the fish and the donks and try to play in games where the reg to fish ration is between 1:2 and 1:1

 

#4 Play Less Tables

Playing less tables forces you to think and not go on auto-pilot. When you are downswinging you want to put as much thought into each decision as possible. You want to factor in positions, dynamics, recent history, timing, everything. The fewer tables you play the more time you will have to factor everything in and your odds of catching little things are much higher than if you are pumping out tables.

Playing fewer tables also decreases your total risk, and when your bankroll is moving in the wrong direction, minimizing your risk is always a good thing. Try playing just one table; see how badly you can own your opponent. Believe me you’ll be surprised at what you pick up on. Another good idea is to record your session using a program like camtasia(link) so that you can look back after at where you went wrong. This will force you to be more honest with yourself about your play and also decrease your incentive to do something silly since you’ll have to watch it many times over.

Part 1 | Part 3