Guest Post – Tuscaloosa Johnny | Poker From The Rail

Guest Post – Tuscaloosa Johnny

Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail

Everybody runs bad, everybody. The best players in the world are still beholden to ol’ Mother Variance in the long run and she is blind to the player. Numbers don’t lie. Still, there are ways to play the game and manage your bankroll to sustain the down swings. Every player who has decided to sit down at the poker table has experienced these bad runs at some point in their career, you need to know how to take a punch.

Now that we’ve agreed that everyone is a loser in poker at some point (in the blogger world we call it the Waffle’s Coefficient), you need to decide how you are going to handle it. Without the proper tools you’re likely to burn your bankroll straight into the ground and just be another broke poker player. But it doesn’t need to happen that way.

“Tuscaloosa” Johnny brings us his next guest post where he gives some valuable first hand tips on how to handle an extended downer. Nobody likes to run bad and will battle hard before making these changes but at some point they will be necessary.

Good times, bad, times, you know I’ve had a few
By “Tuscaloosa” Johnny Kampis

In poker, it doesn’t matter how good you are (or how good you think you are), you are going to run into some bad streaks, and sometimes these bad streaks can last a very long time. In a game where fortunes are dictated by the turn of a card, each player is going to experience unbelievably good and bad luck during short periods of time.

I know I’ve had my share of each, and lately it seems I’ve had more of the latter. That’s just the way poker goes sometimes. If you want to stay in the game you’ve got to come up with methods for dealing with the bad times. There are a few ways of handling a bad run if you are experiencing a cold deck yourself. Here are some things I would recommend you try:

Play lower limits – This is usually the first thing people tell you to do and it is good advice. The unfortunate thing about slumps is that players tend to go on tilt and play worse out of frustration. If you are playing smaller limits your tilting won’t hurt as much. Players are also generally weaker as you move down in limits so the competition should be easier to beat. If you usually play $2-$5 blinds no limit, drop down to $1-$2. If you’re a $10-$20 limit player, try $5-$10. Full Tilt Poker recently added micro stakes of .02/.05 blinds No-Limit Hold’em to its roster of games so if you’re struggling you can really move down the ladder now. Once you start winning consistently again, you can move back up.

Use better game selection – Do your best to find games in which the players are easier to beat. If the competition at the table is known to be tough, try finding another game. It’s not easy to break out of slump playing against trickier players. When you’re online look for games where a higher percentage of the players see the flop and the average pot size is greater than at other tables. This is a good indication that the players are too loose.

Try playing different poker games – Online you have numerous options for different types of poker to play. If you’re tired of the bad beats in Hold’em, you can try Stud, Stud Hi-Lo, Pot-Limit Omaha, Omaha Hi-Lo, Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo, Razz, HORSE, HA…you get the picture. As your poker game develops you should try learning the new games because you may find one in which you have a bigger edge over your opponents.

Try playing different poker formats – Here I am talking about playing sit-n-go’s and multi-table tournaments versus playing only cash games, or full tables instead of short handed games. Or instead of playing regular SNGs you can try The Matrix. Here’s a short list of other formats…heads-up SNGs, satellites, four-handed SNGs, 180-player tournaments, 90-player tournaments…There are a lot of things you can try to break up your unlucky streak.

Just take a break for awhile – And then there are times that no matter what you do, it seems you can’t break out of the slump. If that’s the case, take a day or two off, enjoy the sunshine and come back feeling refreshed with a positive outlook about the game. Now, if I can just take my own advice…

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Tags: AlCantHang, Bloggers on the Rail, Guest Posts, Tuscaloosa Johnny

Permalink | April 16th, 2009 Play Poker on Full Tilt Poker

2 Responses to “Guest Post – Tuscaloosa Johnny”

Ian McDonnell Says:
April 25th, 2009 at 12:03 am
Thanks for the advice. Going through downswings can be really stressful emotionally.It also results in playing a D game instead of an A game or becoming too weak tight, not bluffing enough, folding too much etc.
Sammy G Says:
September 3rd, 2009 at 9:28 am
Good advice for players of all levels. There are plenty of times when you are steaming and the only cure is to drop down and donk it up in the lowest possible stakes (maybe even play money).