I agree buddy. Variance can really be a hit to your gut. I feel like my play is good, but I haven't even final tabled a 180man SNG in a week, and I used to FT it 3-4 times a day (and playing about a quarter of what I do now)

 

My Sharkscope graph basically has a huge uppeak of when I final tabled a lot, and now it's just going down and I can't catch a break. Kinda disappointing really!

It can indeed be soul destroying… My last 4 sessions have been taxed the most ever! I havent even mincashed which has tormented my perception of my own ability. My ROI has dipped into negative territory for the first time this year.
With the exception of a few acknowledged leaks that I’m working on, I’ve been pretty satisfied with my play. My nemesis has been an incredible frequency of pushing 20bigs into aces, usually BvB and also suffering to laughable runner, runner nut hands. It sucks, cause it’s typically close to the bubble. Everyone experiences this, you can only really laugh about it, force yourself to shrug it off, take a break, and reload once the feeling is numb. The worm will turn, but there is always more work that needs to be done in the meantime.

5 Things that im trying to do to get out of this funk!
1. Tighten up pre-antes,
2. Avoid OOP 2 and 3- barrel semi bluffs … My biggest leak! Rather pot control OOP!
3. Experiment with delayed c-bets
4. Take more player notes,
5. Increase my jam/fold play to 20BB, rather than my previous nitty 10BB stimulus

And one more…. I’m keeping clear of turbo small field SnGs… Although I’ve built my role playing them it’s a ****ing grind! Larger field MTTs are currently on the menu, the odd score here and there will quickly remediate an ailing ROI…

cousteer said:

It can indeed be soul destroying… My last 4 sessions have been taxed the most ever! I havent even mincashed which has tormented my perception of my own ability. My ROI has dipped into negative territory for the first time this year.
With the exception of a few acknowledged leaks that I'm working on, I've been pretty satisfied with my play. My nemesis has been an incredible frequency of pushing 20bigs into aces, usually BvB and also suffering to laughable runner, runner nut hands. It sucks, cause it's typically close to the bubble. Everyone experiences this, you can only really laugh about it, force yourself to shrug it off, take a break, and reload once the feeling is numb. The worm will turn, but there is always more work that needs to be done in the meantime.

5 Things that im trying to do to get out of this funk!
1. Tighten up pre-antes,
2. Avoid OOP 2 and 3- barrel semi bluffs … My biggest leak! Rather pot control OOP!
3. Experiment with delayed c-bets
4. Take more player notes,
5. Increase my jam/fold play to 20BB, rather than my previous nitty 10BB stimulus

And one more…. I'm keeping clear of turbo small field SnGs… Although I've built my role playing them it's a ****ing grind! Larger field MTTs are currently on the menu, the odd score here and there will quickly remediate an ailing ROI…

nice summary cousteer

 

i also have been in a rutt lately until a few days ago making a few final tables

– i def followed your #1 and just nitted up early

– i almost completely held off bluffing unless i was in position and had a very very clear read on villain

– your #3 is interesting – im reading 'raiser's edge' and elky and the guys state that in position they delay Cbet a lot more than i have been, 70% of the time vs weak players whe in position. and they balance this by checking behind top pair around 30% of the time

vs LAGG good players they suggest checking behind top pair more frequently so as to not bloat the pot with 1 pair and be unsure where we are when they check raise us

– i also take a lot of notes but i always have

– again i like your #5 – these are higher variance plays that can build chip stacks fast.. i always take into account the OR's position and stack size when i do this but generally its a play i use when im in the blinds/btn c/o and im jamming on an OR in LP with FE

 

I really like these rules in general and if we maitain our discipline and stick to these, all that remains is the tide to turn and the $$$ to come in..

@moizt: i guess everyone experience those dry phases and they suck big time,  i'd recommend that you lower your buyins to avoid risking to burn your whole roll until you get back on track. and maybe dont try to hard to play like the pros in the video, try to work some concepts they show slowly in your game , you dont have to change your whole game immediately if you are a winning player. tpe will definetly make you a better player 😉

Coach yourself…go back and get your 20 most recent hand hisories and review them….I will guarantee you that you will find spots that you should not have been involved in and probobly should have been involved in…..variance is a bitch and eventually your heater will come, just make sure you take advantage of it……all players , even the best of the best at times doubt their abilities when a massive downswing occurs…..key is to keep making the proper decisions and by all means keep finding those +ev spots to get your money in…the wins will come……GL bigheaddave

I've moved from playing 6 tables to playing a whopping 1 TABLE. I was just playing an MTT, and we were in the final 200, sitting on an average stack during the whole tourny, until I lose 3 coinflips in a row, and get eliminated. All of the coinflips were +EV spots, as there was a lot of dead money in the pot, and going all in preflop was definitely the best move. I have gone over my hand history, and I learn something new everytime I get knocked out, however this time I don't feel that I did anything wrong. Getting queens in VS AK and him flopping A53 doesn't make me feel much better, lol.

 

I hope my heater will come soon. I'm definitely on the top of my game, but I need some luck to final table some MTTs for once!

I was just in perfect position to gain chip lead against a spewy huge stack, and then…

 

Poker Stars $2.00+$0.20 No Limit Hold'em Tournament – t60/t120 Blinds + t15 – 9 players
TournamentPokerEdge.com Hand History Converter

nfld77 (UTG+1): BB = 45.1, t5418
Hero (UTG+2): BB = 224.3, t26920
Everlastrr (MP1): BB = 121.5, t14575
LINCOLN231 (MP2): BB = 71.8, t8610
sstevennn123 (CO): BB = 65.0, t7795
fifibrandon (BTN): BB = 77.8, t9339
goncaes (SB): BB = 220.7, t26487
Kanuni_66 (BB): BB = 100.7, t12088
KArhip (UTG): BB = 97.1, t11648

Pre Flop: (t315) Hero is UTG+2 with K K
KArhip raises to t240, nfld77 calls t240, Hero raises to t1005, 4 folds, goncaes calls t945, Kanuni_66 calls t885, KArhip calls t765, 1 fold

Flop: (t4395) 8 8 2 (4 players)
goncaes checks, Kanuni_66 checks, KArhip checks, Hero bets t3115, goncaes calls t3115, Kanuni_66 folds, KArhip folds

Turn: (t10625) J (2 players)
goncaes bets t7920, Hero raises to t22785 all in, goncaes calls t14432 all in

River: (t55329) J (2 players – 2 are all in)

Final Pot: t55329
Hero shows K K (two pair, Kings and Jacks)
goncaes shows A J (a full house, Jacks full of Eights)
goncaes wins t55329

Lol, while i was typing the message above, this happens

 

*********** # 1 **************
PokerStars Game #71211640993: Tournament #548010217, $1.00+$0.10 USD Hold'em No Limit - Level VIII (150/300) - 2011/11/27 7:53:26 ET
Table '548010217 221' 9-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: Asj.Taylor (5502 in chips) 
Seat 2: raserAA (11645 in chips) 
Seat 4: Moizt (8045 in chips) 
Seat 5: cubefish (5545 in chips) 
Seat 6: nino2301 (5252 in chips) 
Seat 7: gradje39 (12148 in chips) 
Seat 8: Almostrosey (9190 in chips) 
Seat 9: nemira27 (18100 in chips) 
Asj.Taylor: posts the ante 25
raserAA: posts the ante 25
Moizt: posts the ante 25
cubefish: posts the ante 25
nino2301: posts the ante 25
gradje39: posts the ante 25
Almostrosey: posts the ante 25
nemira27: posts the ante 25
raserAA: posts small blind 150
Moizt: posts big blind 300
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Moizt [Ks Ac]
cubefish: folds 
nino2301: folds 
gradje39: folds 
Almostrosey: raises 600 to 900
nemira27: folds 
Asj.Taylor: folds 
raserAA: folds 
Moizt: raises 7120 to 8020 and is all-in
Almostrosey: calls 7120
*** FLOP *** [9s 9d Jh]
*** TURN *** [9s 9d Jh] [8d]
*** RIVER *** [9s 9d Jh 8d] [Qc]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Moizt: shows [Ks Ac] (a pair of Nines)
Almostrosey: shows [Ad Qd] (two pair, Queens and Nines)
Almostrosey collected 16390 from pot
Moizt finished the tournament in 1018th place
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 16390 | Rake 0 
Board [9s 9d Jh 8d Qc]
Seat 1: Asj.Taylor (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: raserAA (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 4: Moizt (big blind) showed [Ks Ac] and lost with a pair of Nines
Seat 5: cubefish folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: nino2301 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: gradje39 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: Almostrosey showed [Ad Qd] and won (16390) with two pair, Queens and Nines
Seat 9: nemira27 folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Average stack was 12-13k and i had about 23 bigs, almo was playing super tight so I expected him to call after 3xing. 

Oh well, maybe next time I'll be the one getting lucky