I Never Thought it Would Happen to Me

I used to read posts all the time on FCP and other places talking about how sick the variance was in poker and in shorthanded games in particular. I never really thought much of it. I ran decently, I had bad days, but never anything too ridiculous and never for a protracted period of time. I never realized that I wasn't bulletproof. I never thought that I'd hit that massive downswing like you read about. I never thought it would happen to me...until it did.

This month I've played a little over 3400 hands of 2/4 6-max limit hold'em. For the first 1000 I broke even. I started out stuck then, got back to even with a couple good sessions and I distinctly remember looking back and seeing that I'd broken even and thinking that wasn't bad. Then things went to hell. In my last 2400 hands I've lost 210 BB ($840), a little of that is probably due to tilt and the occasional misplay, but even when you're running good and winning you're gonna misplay some hands. The bottom line is that I've run like absolute shit for the last 2400+ hands, which has spanned about 2 weeks or so. This has put a major dent in my Party Poker account and my overall bankroll. I'd never really realized until now how important it is to have that 400-500 BB roll to play 6-max games, but now I'm finally starting to get it. If it hadn't been for the $375 or so I won by finishing 10th in the $40k at the beginning of the month I'd be almost broke on Party Poker right now.

As it is, I think I may drop down and try to ride it out until I start winning consistently again. It's not that I don't have the bankroll...if I add up all the money I have on various sites and in my savings account (which is a part of my roll which I took offline a couple months ago) I still have enough to be properly rolled for 2/4, especially considering that I can't expect to run this bad for too much longer. Still though, I think the money is starting to affect me a bit and I may want to drop down until I book a couple good solid winning sessions in a row. After that I can move back up with confidence. And to anyone who still thinks you won't hit a terrible downswing, remember it can and will happen to you at some point.