Poker Strategy: Running Bad
It happens to every Poker player at some point, and the worst part is we never see it coming. One day all of a sudden our flushes and straights stop coming in. Our pocket pairs never hit sets. Our big pairs get cracked or run into bigger pairs. We stop winning in race situations, especially important ones near the bubble in tournaments. We feel like we are doomed to holding only second-best hands.
It’s called Running Bad, and it can be awful. It can be enough to make you want to quit Poker altogether. It makes us look at the game with spite and become timid. Our opponents are at a huge advantage because they do not have to try and throw us off of our game, because we have already done that for them. We start playing badly and our bankroll suffers the consequences.
It is important to be able to recognize when a bad run is starting. It is like a disease, and if diagnosed early enough and treated, the damage that it causes can be limited. The treatment is a fairly simple, but extremely hard to implement while in a losing state of mind.
Poker is about the numbers, your instinct, and making correct decisions (not in that order). Bad runs are going to happen because Good runs happen, and the numbers have to even out somehow. Supposedly all players are dealt the same amount of good and bad hands throughout their Poker careers. The winning players extract more money from opponents with their good hands, and lose less with their bad hands.
When you go on a bad run the best way to survive it starts before you even sit down for a session. If you go into a game thinking “I have been running so bad lately I hope my bad luck doesn’t continue” or “I don’t know why I am going to play today, with the way things have been it would be a miracle to pull off a win”
You are Dooming yourself for Failure
These are extreme examples of someone’s thoughts, but anything along those lines in your head before you sit down to play WILL affect your game. Try to instead focus on thoughts like: “I am a winning player, I always bring my A-Game to the table, and I always get lucky when I need to.”
I am not going to lie to you, it is very tough to say this to yourself and actually believe it, especially when things are not going your way. What you absolutely DO NOT want to do is turn into the “I never hit flushes” or “I never win races” type of player. This is a losing mindset and it leads to improper play and decisions. If you do hear this out of an opponent’s mouth, take full advantage of it any way you can. They are in a losing mindset and you can’t be a winner if you don’t think like a winner.
If you think you can see a bad run coming, I suggest tightening up significantly, especially when out of position. Try to break the game down to each individual round of betting, thinking closely about each action you take. Also do everything possible to keep yourself out of marginal situations. This should be easier due to your higher starting hand requirements. We can’t avoid bad runs, but we can limit the damage they do to our bankroll. And that is one of the keys to being a Winner. Good Luck at the Tables.
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