Worst Downswing of My Career (QUITTING POKER!)

[@BlackRain79Poker]

Have you ever gone through a brutal downswing before? Also, check out my other video on why most people lose at poker (it's not what you think): kzbin.info/www/bejne/ooDGipSva7WLsLM

[@scorpion407]

Hey Nathan. Hope my comment will find you. What happened yesterday is the reason I am watching this video. I lost my whole bankroll only from bad beats at the river. We shove at the flop or at the turn and I am with 80% or more equity and they constantly beat me. My question is if a downswing can last for months how much money should my bankroll be?

[@433bravo]

In one 3 hour session I shoved or called a shove 6 times. When turning the cards over I had at least 85% win chance. One was 95%. I lost all 6

[@oldmanbiker2]

Just coming out of one that has lasted over 6 months. Starting to win again now. Just kept studying and moving on.

[@mostlypeacefulguntraining]

mine has been going on for over a decade, i quit poker for a while because of it. i lose 80% of my 60% fave to win races, and my KK, QQ and JJ constantly get smacked by Ax way more than math says should be happening. i literally am questioning whether I am cursed or something

[@peteradnell2202]

I live in Sweden and play poker full time. Something that has helped me recover from bad times is to walk out in the woods and just be alone in that environment. Forest power is an incredible healing source.

[@cristiancolcer5143]

After turning a $20 satelite into a $530 online ticket in a 500k gtd tourney,before the game started I spent a couple of hours in the forrest.I made day two and next day,before it started I went to the forrest again.Ended up at the final table out in 5th for 21k+ a $5300 ticket to the main event. This was my first $530 tournament ever and the energy I got from the forrest gave me such a clear mind,focus and confidence to play against real players at high stakes.

[@peteradnell2202]

@@cristiancolcer5143 Nice story! Many scientific studies have shown that the stress hormone cortisol decreases dramatically after a while in the forest. How did it go in wsop?

[@cristiancolcer5143]

@@peteradnell2202 Was not the WSOP. It was Stadium Series on Pokerstars and got fairly close to the 10k mini cash but got knocked out with about 100 players left until the bubble. Still a great experience,100% would do it again,if somebody gave me a ticket....

[@EldritchDWX]

"Suffering arises from trying to control what is uncontrollable, or from neglecting what is within our power." - Epictetus One of my favourites. No quote is more applicable to the prospective professional poker player career.

[@jamesaydelette5660]

My problem has always been I build up my buy in 2 or 3 or 4 times and then the big pots where I’m nutted up I lose on the river everything single time.

[@derekluna7700]

to some guy floating Q3 for the 4 to a straight river. or pocket 5 river 2 outer. bovada super user poker

[@LinuxKnuckleHead]

I've a lot of videos from you while sitting here playing poker online. More than any other youtube creator but this video is by far the best one. It's something that everyone should come to grips with in poker. Sometimes nothing you do seems to be right. Like the old saying my dear old dad used to say. "Everything works some of the times but nothing works all of the time" Thanks for all the great videos and advice. Cheers

[@pelorojotk]

Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It's a very mean and nasty place and I don't care how tough you are it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't about how hard ya hit. It's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done! ― Sylvester Stallone, Rocky Balboa

[@BlackRain79Poker]

Nobody ever said it better.

[@D1G1TALFOX]

😎

[@garylennon5115]

a poker noob noob here started 3 months ago watching all your vids . doing great such a high and ...for the last week its loss after loss , really tilting but this video really showed me that this is the game . thanks for the videos and time you take to do them

[@BlackRain79Poker]

Welcome aboard!

[@keithdunlap]

I love this video. Couldn't agree more. I don't want to exaggerate my recent downswing because 1) I am only down 3 buy-ins from a fifty buy-in bankroll; (The downswing is 10 buy-ins. I had built my bankroll to 57 buy-ins in a month after just recently moving up a stake); and 2) as much as half of that downswing was attributable to less than optimal play by me, mostly making calls on the Turn which were correct from a theoretical perspective perhaps but realistically wrong, and running well-conceived but realistically incorrect bluffs against a player who doesn't hand read and will call down with top or middle pair with a flush, a straight, a full house, or some combination of these textures on the board. Nonetheless the past few weeks have been comically unfortunate. I feel really good about my reaction, which has been 1) to move down a stake and cheerfully grind back to my fifty buy-in bankroll before I return to the higher stake; and 2) use it as a learning opportunity to fix those leaks and work on my mental game. Thanks, Nathan, for the validation. If I am focused on the playing the hand in front of me as well as I can, I am doing my job. Mental Game is key.

[@jimbo6238]

im currently on a 28k downswing since march last year. poker has been a money pit for me rather than a job, and my downfall was totally, 100% my mindset. taking some time off to study the game more. im sure i needed this to focus better in the future.

[@francescoiadicicco1266]

I got full house cracked twice by quads today and multiple aces, kings and queens busted. I was down by almost 10 buyins in a single horrible session. I started to play passive and to overfold, because of that negative feeling of not being able to win a hand. The worst run I remember of. I think this video nailed it. It's all about our mental state and how we deal with it. Also discipline is so important. I will never break my 3 buyins rule again!

[@RenaissanceM]

The hardest thing for me is differentiating between when the cards are just against me, and when I’m playing bad. Now of course sometimes it’s obvious. I’ve made stupid hero calls just like everyone has at one point or another. But then there are times when I am just so certain that I played it right, yet still leave a loser. On top of that I’m incredibly self critical, and I wind up driving myself nuts by going over it again and again and telling myself things like “Oh if I’d just played it like this, or maybe just like this it would have worked” and sure maybe it would have, OR maybe the cards just weren’t with you today, and that’s okay. You can’t kill yourself mentally every single time things don’t go your way. 😂

[@danielmeuler2877]

I think until someone goes threw what your talking about, you just have to get sick of wasting the Energy it takes to keep processing what happened and then the energy to beat yourself up. I know for me it was a shitty ride home. Kick the dog on the way in. And when I say Kick I mean great your best Poch buddy and be happy you had to opportunity to go blow money and make it home safe and forget about it. My local Poker Room is STILL Closed for Covid so I am still waiting for my opportunity to come back.

[@mattd1087]

I'm an online pro going through this right now. Almost three straight months of running insanely bad almost every session. I really didn't think it was possible to even come close to running this bad for this long. Thankfully, I'm not much of a tilter anymore as far as how I play, but I still scream at the screen and punch my desk (and it takes a lot for me to get to that point). I still need to overcome that emotional part for my sanity and to lower stress though. Not wishing you bad luck, but it's comforting to hear other crushers have gone through this. Thanks for sharing!

[@daydaydful]

Well if u dont adjust ur play in game maybe screaming and punching the screen emotionally is not such a bad thing if it gets it out of ur system and ur actions and decisions post bad beat dont change.

[@mattd1087]

@@daydaydful I agree. I used to tilt off stacks and it used to cost me financially big time. Progress not perfection.

[@daydaydful]

@@mattd1087 me too it was awful and i would try to lie to myself saying " see i can handle it i just laugh it off" but as i laugh it off and say nice hand i rebuy for double and shove all in as soon as i get QQ or better its rough. So now im trying some new approaches with actually letting myself get upset and blow off a little steam and try to maybe show more outward and stay focused inwardly idk . Working progress.. whats always worked best for me is just quitting for a few hours if i know im that tilted..

[@mattd1087]

Good luck! It's the toughest part of the game.

[@BlackRain79Poker]

Hope it turned around for you Matt!

[@chazsmith20]

So nice to hear this because the bad luck I have had really seemed so freakish and mathematically impossible that I thought I was the only one, lol. I remember one session losing 7 flush over flushes, 3 set over sets, 2 one outers with my entire stack inside and finally nailing a q high straight flush and losing to a k high straight flush and that was just one VERY COMMON day over the course of weeks.

[@damagion7569]

Its impossible if you have a q high straight flush and your opponent has a king high straight flush

[@weshareknowhow3429]

Not it is not. Assume QJT9 One has the King, the other the 8. Voila. @@damagion7569

[@mostlypeacefulguntraining]

@@damagion7569 not if he has the 8s and the board is 9s Ts Js Qs

[@hawkeyerichardson5026]

I win three-four sessions in a row and then lose it all in one. For the bottom 90% of players, you will always lose cumulative over the long-term. I sometimes have to ask myself whether I really enjoy playing this game, and to be honest, the answer is mostly 'No.' At 70 years old and mostly homebound, I play it to kill time and hope to break even over the long haul.

[@sawantrohan]

Very true. I have been playing this game for years now and I have also experienced the same thing. There is a day when I am up 5 buyins and later on in the same consequitive days i loose those in trickles and mostly come to where I started or even go below my winnings.

[@IncomeLounge]

@@sawantrohan that’s because you suck at the game….

[@sawantrohan]

@@IncomeLounge lol who are you to judge me? nobody asked for your opinion heheh...

[@sergiotl7378]

@@IncomeLounge Nice constructive comment.

[@deathbymonkeys]

My advice would be to play at stakes that won't cause any emotional pain when you lose

[@ragnarlodbrok9186]

A few years ago I went on what I hope will prove the worst downswing of my life. Lasted somewhere in the region of 70k hands playing small stakes zoom. I saw the most absurd things imaginable. The one that sticks in my mind is when I got it in with top set against two random undercards and the other guy backdoored a straight (I assume he misclicked or else he committed so much pre that he felt he had to go with it). I don't mind losing and understand it's part of the game etc. but after a while you begin to seriously doubt your ability to play at all. My usual response to losing streaks is to become an absolute nit and try to ride it out, but it's not exactly optimal.

[@daydaydful]

So on my brutal downswings i would try nitting it up crazy too like im not playing worse then pocket JJ pre in position and was folding AQ sometimes AK off if i was shoved on and i found it was almost worse for me like because id have KK and 3 bet get 4 bet so id shove ore vice versa and i would lose my whole stack guarenteed after folding for an hour then again and again.. so i switched it up and when im running really bad i up my blyffing frequency and hands 10 fold and u would assume i start just bluffing off my whole stack faster but wierdly enough i would run insane bluffs and build my stack up and then id take an all in bad beat with pocket AA getting cracked but id only lose half my stack because id be deeper from bluff pots and hands where im bluffing and get called and river a straight or 2 pair that gives my opponent a bad beat so i started thinking maybe its not so much luck changing for me but just the percentage of hands that are successful switches to the lower percent or hands usually not played or maybe my bluffs are getting thru iether way it seems to reduce my overalll losses on downswings

[@madison7911]

Wilt on Tilt had one of the greatest downswing stories I've read in a long time. As soon as he turned pro he went on a massive downswing that lasted a month or something like that. Crazy how bad it can get. I once lost 35 buys in in one session. Took a short break and won 7 in the end.

[@marksimpson2321]

One month is not a long downswing. Most live poker vloggers havent yet ppayed long enough to have encountered genuine large long downswings.

[@remodelingtulsa]

You focusing on and your insight on the mental side of poker is great. I've been stuck on your channel since I discovered it.

[@BlackRain79Poker]

Thanks for watching my poker videos, glad they help!

[@matthewbuckleyij6403]

Thanks for posting this!, I’ve currently stopped playing for a bit- as I was at a point where I got to the point second guessed all my decisions and started to believe that I Could not win, no matter what. But I’ll be back, I’m studying- re-affirming that I had been playing the right way

[@garygwinn4256]

Do a VLOG Nathan. Your channel would blow up. We would love to hear you go over live hands. You could play in some soft games too...

[@paulpena5040]

When I first started playing poker I couldn't believe what was happening. Keep in mind I had no experience so no ability to really understand it or put it in perspective. I was like "Isn't a flush a strong hand? Aren't full houses usually winning? Aren't I never supposed to lose with a straight flush? (I lost Q high straight flush to King high). Isn't 2 pair usually enough to win an average pot?" I was like "How does anybody play this game?". And that was my introduction to poker. Literally went on for weeks. Later when I started to win I was like "Whoa a single pair held! Whoa 2 pair held!". In some ways it was a blessing in disguise and later, yep, ran even worse but at least I had some victories in between.

[@TakenGTs]

"A winner keeps going." That right there is one of the most moving motivational quotes I've ever heard.

[@adansampieri6249]

Been looking into this, and I figured the best way and most common way to get through a downswing is like Phil Ivey, play different games like PLO etc etc since all in all they all have different concepts until your downswing subsides in that particular game...

[@z0ck3rpoker3]

last year in august 2020 i suffered the biggest Downswing in my 5 years playing this game... I was getting crushed left and right... Sets couldnt hold, Flushes were useless and even AA and KK couldnt savely stack off Preflop. I was running 20 Buy Ins below EV on NL100 + NL 50. It took me 3 Months to get my Mind back on the right track... But i can say that i learned some valuable life lessons

[@OvermindVic]

I remember back in the day running wrose set vs set on flop 11 times in a row on nl50. Painful at best.

[@MrDavePed]

Just walk away and do something else if it is a bad session don't try to turn it around. Stick around for the good sessions, walk away from the bad ones early. Maybe you don't want to play and you are playing badly because you really do NOT want to be playing. When you walk away see what it is you start doing instead. That was probably tugging at you all along. Playing badly can be so subtle you don't recognize the bad decisions as being bad decisions. So if you walk away early instead of trying to push through it you'll hurt yourself a lot less, just accept it and see what it is you really want to be doing. If poker is such a drag that you hate to play you will sabotage yourself in a way you cannot recognize just so you can do something else. Change your playstyle so it is once again tolerable. For myself I only play about 40 hands in a session but I play maybe ten or twelve sessions a day and that's it. If I play too long I get tired, I start to sabotage my own winnings so that I will quit. I am my own worst enemy at poker and maybe we all are more often than we think. Make sure how ever you play poker that you are enjoying it to some degree or I think that will really damage your winnings. ..

[@McRuffin]

I saw this vid when it was first released and I came back for some encouragement… I’ve been going through this for a week. I’m not even joking when I say I’ve probably lost 80-85% of my QQ+ hands. It’s so bad I feel like I’m being cheated. Hopefully i get out of this soon. Thank you Nathan so much!

[@McRuffin]

Update, I forgot about this comment. I’m came out of the downswing. But never got to the point where I was absolutely crushing. I now play sng these days and I’m running 20% ROI.

[@Mandoop8]

Dude i needed this video!! I've played just over 1.000.000 hands now and had the sickest run of my life over the last couple of weeks...time to get my head back in the game, BRM properly, and start stacking those DROOLER FISH!!

[@KennyveeHET]

Great one ! I’ve learned emotional intelligence through meditation , although I think my biggest teacher is playing poker and watching how I react or don’t react . When I don’t react and play it through with a clear head , I can win most of the time . When I find myself reactionary, I lose every time .

[@iplay4rollz986]

That is interesting

[@fishbonegaga]

I'm running 30 buy ins under ev on 80k hands right now, it's not the first time, but i just try my best to keep going as calm as i can and waiting for the variance to change side.

[@kerrypooley406]

Don't wait for variance. Adjust accordingly now.

[@fishbonegaga]

@@kerrypooley406 Well, if i'm supposed to run 30 buy in under ev all my life, my adjustment will be quitting poker. 🤣

[@kerrypooley406]

Haha while that is funny, if this is the way you consider it, that may be best for you - or at least to step back.

[@sneketec6370]

while quoting anonymous comments, you yourself made a good comment that's quotable :D completely agree with that quote "poker is a microcosm of life". very nice perspective.

[@bogdanchetreanu4269]

I just had a 9 months like this. I lost all my bankroll and some. I decided to go to lower stakes and be more disciplined. I was also loosing I’m love games even though I was by far the best player at the table. Thought about quitting but I am too fond of the game. Now I’m back, rebuilt my bankroll and winning big in love games. So, never give up, guys!

[@shreyd4198]

“Even though I was by far the best player at the table.” -Fishy Reg

[@PatrickA1]

The best player in what respect? Best at what?

[@paulmaier6305]

i am 72. many years ago, i asked a famous Greek gambler who he thought the best poker players were. he said the top 500 or so players are basically in the same "class". what separates the "ok" from the GREAT, is how do they play when they are RUNNING BAD!!! ALWAYS play your A game and get your money in good. being into STOICISM would b a good start.

[@kellymcelree6986]

You continuously give great advice. Thank you. I am going to write that quote down.

[@sawantrohan]

A runbad "sanity trick" is to tighten up in close spots. You'll lose a bit of win rate, but probably less than you think, and you'll chop off significant variance. You will also chop off some slightly losing spots, your tighter style might throw off your opponents for a while, and you'll get in a bit more volume, so there are compensations. Now grind away with less "noise" and your true edge in your games of choice will be easier to see. If you run bad, you run bad, but it's easier to handle when you're very certain you are playing well. Winning poker can be made pretty simple. It's good to remind oneself of that fact every now and then, and keep training the fundamentals. Hope things turn around for you soon!

[@tlea31]

Nice vid i once bricked 25 tournaments in a row not even min cash. Thats live, ive heard online swings can be even worse

[@sawantrohan]

At the end of the day poker is just cards. Its a game just like football or Cricket. One will win, other will loose. So don't take poker too seriously and have a job that supports you financially and keep poker as a hobby/side business.

[@chillsavage6641]

5 months in to this downswing and have lost all of my winnings from 2022 and then some. Trying really hard to improve my mentsl game and always visit this video after horrendous games.

[@terencehill3972]

gamblers ALWAYS come back! also, keep in mind that statistically SOME players must win over time, even if they play bad...don’t overlook the possibility that your downswing simply means that you are a losing player. It’s hard to win in poker

[@ZicoDuco]

"Statistically some players must win over time" This just depends on which games you are playing. If you only play tables with regs, the longer you play over time, the more every one lose. One reg will lose less than the other reg.

[@ZicoDuco]

This means that you can be a very skilled player, who never wins.

[@terencehill3972]

@@ZicoDuco True. And on the other hand you can be a very poor player who always wins. Here's an analogy from the stock market: have enough monkeys point randomly at stocks to create a portfolio. The law of large numbers guarantees that a few of them will always make it to the top tier of stock brokers in the US. The same goes for poker, especially for tournaments.

[@ZicoDuco]

@@terencehill3972 Due very high rake environment****

[@sh0wtime943]

@@ZicoDuco possible but if you put in like a million hands , your results should close in to the ev .. now that ev can be negative

[@ChiariLife420]

Sometimes I do feel as if I'm the unluckiest player in the world. I am disabled, play mostly online, and maybe once or twice a year in a casino. I love the game. Have been playing for some years now but over the last 6 months have been dedicated to opening my perspectives when it comes to playing the game. I make minimum deposits of $50 and play .5/.10. I can play steady and win up to 3 or 4 buy ins, but then play a couple days later and lose it all. I've never seem to be able to put even a small run together without being constantly drawn out on. My mindset is my leak however. I understand that I'm not controlling every aspect of my game mentally and that has a lot to do with it. I won't quit however as it's all I have for life at the moment. I would love to actually make about $50 a month instead of having to deposit it. Thanks for the video, it has been an inspiration.

[@marksimpson2321]

Check out Jonathan Little as well !

[@iplay4rollz986]

Losing losing losing losing losing losing - never quit never give up and being able to stay on your A game this is a winners quality ! You know you have to know within yourself that I can do this ! Accept poker as whole the good the bad the ugly and the huge upswings. Accept it all for what is. If you can’t accept everything that happens to you at the Felt then poker is not for you and you should spend your time and energy on something else. Good luck to people chasing their dreams 👊

[@profnabeshin]

I have been in a bad downswing for the last 6 months, playing on a poker app (pokerrrr 2). I want to blame many things like the app have bad RNG. I found myself in a stone cold nuts situation like boat over boat or being beaten by a 2 outer in every big pot. However, no matter how much I want to put blame on other things I can't avoid the truth that I am a bad player, and I need to find a different hobby because I can't mentally handle this downswing.

[@GrosTony83]

Thx you man, i am a poker player zoom and i love this youtube channel because i learn poker skill and English skill lol Soory i am french , my english is very bad. You play zoom again today ?

[@Gustavo20780]

Amazing video Nathan. I was in need of it.

[@hankb9104]

I politely disagree with you in several areas. There are still plenty fundamentally bad players out there particularly in 1/2NL live games. Also intentionally starting short stacked can be a good way to go especially during a bad run of cards. be a good strategy, It is essential though to use a well designed short stack strategy (Sklansky, Harrington and Ed Miller have written on the subject). It may limit your potential winnings but will keep you in action during a downswing. In 35 years as a semi-pro and keeping meticulous records I've come close to being poker bankroll broke a couple of times but slugged my way out of it. Hundreds of times I've bought in for 50 BB's an octupled up. You just have to adjust strategy according to stack size. Bad runs of are also far less stressful than getting shot at and parachute malfunctions.

[@kerrypooley406]

Absolutely agree with you Hank. Can you make a mention on what sort of Up/Down Swing you experience in the short run and what your total results are as a profit or loss? [not with exact accuracy, but the estimate] Using the same approach as you I find things turn over a profit more consistently.

[@hankb9104]

@@kerrypooley406 I' keep meticulous records since 1991 and never had a loosing year. Had a probably 25 loosing months (I'd have to go back and count) where nearly everything seemed to break against me. Witnessed scores of people go broke usually because they are under bankrolled and/or play badly or recklessly..

[@kerrypooley406]

@@hankb9104 absolutely. Thanks for the experienced reply. It's good to reflect where others share a perspective.

[@cjmcdonald9577]

These seem like good opportunities to study up on the game more.

[@zwrdl]

There is another side to this. If math and variance dictate that you will have unbelievable downswings lasting longer than you ever thought possible, then the same must also be true of upswings. There should be an equal (if played over millions of hands) number of weeks or even months in which you just can't seem to lose a hand. Why is this not even mentioned? And if there is a specific way to deal with the downswings, is there a specific optimal way to deal with the upswings, or does one just sit back and enjoy it?

[@marksimpson2321]

Because most poker players who play for more than a few years probably ARE on their upswings without realising it.

[@WilliamKane8657]

going through this right now last 3 weeks of August and so far this months games I've had a horrible run

[@mryoungshark4086]

I wish I can have a downswing but im really just punting 🏈

[@kerrypooley406]

~ MVP Comment ~

[@patrickjane4027]

Best video on downswing, ever. I watched the all

[@monkee9385]

Soo scared right now running so bad been a pro player for 5 years and gunna have to go find a real job not sure what to do

[@Strebmal1]

There is also the option of realising this game isn't for you. Having gone through a few cycles of 'You can't be serious' (credits to JM), and leaving the game for a few years each time, some (of us) just don't have the mental resilience to withstand the assault on personal worth (not money worth) that this engenders. There are other pursuits (maybe)!!!!

[@D1G1TALFOX]

Poker's a landscape of probabilistic pain . . . -lock ism 😎

[@robertosan66677]

Been on sun runs ,,,,been on downswings ,,,,to get past a downswing is just ,,,,chill and let the cards / and hands COME TO YOU ,,,,,don’t force it ,,,don’t be aggressive ,,,stop trying to bluff off people off a hand ,,,they see ur tilting and will call you u with 3rd pair,,,,just let the good cards and hand come to you ,,,once you winning again then you can start bluffing and playing agresssive and they will fold cause now they seem winning hands

[@ngarunhouth6098]

Taking a break lost 3 sessions in a row, like you said perfect time to be better 👍

[@derekblevins9163]

I'm new to poker. Getting my bad luck run out of the way early lol

[@kerrypooley406]

~Welcome Aboard~ Tip: it's best not to 'get bad luck out of the way' but rather to prepare and learn how to deal with it when it is on the scene. Bad luck will come regardless, just make sure you are able to take the hits and still be able to come out on top afterwards otherwise I suggest you study very-very carefully [just so that you do not become another 5+ year bad luck downswing story - best of luck my friend].

[@sohanmathure8730]

This dude is 100% right when he says, you are upset that your AA got cracked? YOU HAVENT SEEN ENOUGH! Just came back from the casino after losing my entire stack to an opponent who covers me.. I had J-10 suited on the button and I am facing an UTG raise with 3 callers, so, I 3-bet pot size. I am playing by the rules as per the pre-flop strategy chart. Only the big-blind calls and we see a flop of J-J-10. Now, its music to my ears when my opponent announces all-in and I am excited to have a full double-up. I snap call. The turn is an A and the river is an A and he wins with As full of J. I was about to quit Poker for good but I saw this video.

[@webguy943]

Once had my KK cracked 10 times in a row.

[@JSickPoker]

The truth is luck won’t treat everyone the same in the long run. Some people may never even encounter a major downswing and some will encounter many brutal ones. There’s a reason why there are suboptimal players who made millions in MTTs while other really good players haven’t made nearly as much or ran terrible during shot taking.

[@webguy943]

Nah. Its just that the long run is REALLY long. N most dont reach the long run.

[@bhardwajr01]

Ace flush getting crushed by a straight flush on the river 😢

[@craigshrimpton817]

10 years of playing poker and I'm dead even. Does that count as a 10 year downswing?

[@Warsonix]

Bro I feel ya ,15 years of online poker here , on and off , i just quitted a 5 month poker session 10 hours a day , Worst horrible downsing ever .. But I am winning IRL 0.o Unlucky on internet and could say pretty normal hand in real life

[@tx189]

Bro, ten years even is a win already, given how tough poker now a day is.

[@capnnukasun810]

Especially Frank. Frank is a calling station.

[@samtraygis1337]

This year I've had 20 set over sets that I've been on the bottom end of ..

[@FefeLeVrai]

I think the right way to look at the game is to get your satisfaction from winning EV, not money. When I think about the favorite hands I've played, a lot of them are actually losing ones. Made a huge outplay, got it in at 80%, got sucked out on, that's life. I feel much better after a hand like this than after winning 300bb from coolering some poor guy. At one point I also had a pretty crippling fear of playing that kept me away from the game, because of big downswing days like this. So I fired up my favorite tracker, looked at the EV stats of one of these bad days, it was overwhelmingly green, and the few red spots were just coolers. Put me right back on track. Just keep a cool head, make good plays, and win EV. Money is just luck, don't focus on that. If the EV is on your side you should play as much as you can.

[@davenutt749]

Yeah, I've felt pretty shoddy when my KK beats an AA.

[@JSickPoker]

On 2 month downswing over 200+hrs. Have lost a ton of pots with top set vs top two and losing when 90-97% ahead consistently. It’s been rough but I know it’s eventually going to end. I just dunno when 😅

[@dominicthompson2707]

Best video by far. I've been getting killed in bad beats. I also compete in bodybuilding. Love how you brought that in!!

[@guillaumealaux1299]

As soon a i see that I start loosing with bad plays I stop instantly, I sit out and play next day when I'm up mentally

[@louisvillalba7695]

I have lost quads over quads and nut flush over str8 flush

[@MrPuros]

lol, MSplayer gave me a huge smack when he shoved his 106os all in vs my AJs (vpip +-25) , villain gets his 6 on turn -> me dead... bye bye tournament. I know it's the MS but I don't know if most players became better nowadays. 5 tournaments and all dead today...is this considered a downswing?

[@aaronsoto4622]

I play 300 nl live in casino's. 2/3 blinds.... I don't know what too think of the game anymore....my amount of "running bad" if that's what I should even consider it..just seems so inconceivable. It really makes me think is this game even beatable at these stakes. I don't know. But if you all think you run bad I think I may be that 1% outlier of running beyond humanely statically bad at least maybe?

[@zachdelong1039]

Yup Poker and Life are so similar. Expecting either to be fare to you is like expecting a lion not to eat you just because you don’t wanna eat him.

[@LJW12MCFC]

I’m currently on the worst downswing of my career. I’ve lost 11 buy-ins in 2 weeks. If I manage to grind back a buy in or two, the next hand I lose a massive cooler. I get so frustrated. I need to work on my tilt response. I just get despondent. I need to work on my mental game massively. But I just feel so tired. Just yesterday I had the nut flush rivered by a straight flush. 1 out! It’s so exasperating. Then you seem to lose in every conceivable way. Bottom 2 all in on flop counterfeit on the river. Aces and Kings cracked 6 times in 2 nights. And you bleed away chips in small pots and bad spots because you feel like you’re stuck in mud! Mindset changes are needed big time!

[@troymcjessy7493]

With all do respect. What u describe isn't a downswing. Standard variance

[@keithpfeifle1875]

great stuff !!

[@G0DofRock]

Just played 33 cautiously hoping for set... Tight-ish reg 3bets with obvious AA. I call flop comes J6J he bets less than half so I snap raise, he just calls.. Turn comes J6J3 I make fullhouse thinking he has trips or two pair lol I shove raise, he calls and river comes J6J3J LOL wtf board let me down, huge cooler but it was funny

[@88crazykyle]

I’m there. I can’t win any major pot and I don’t care what I have.. It’s extremely hard to push forward

[@thesuperiorbench6307]

Came here a pretty meh poker player and left a stoic

[@kerrypooley406]

Noice. +Rep

[@phillipholmes5206]

Life is a microcosm of poker. Get good at life and you will be an ok poker player, get good at poker and you will find you have mastered life. 🤗😎

[@kerrypooley406]

O... K. I think you're looking for Charlie Carrel's page my friend.

[@Плут-с2о]

Great vid as always

[@scottjessupjones6037]

so if hitting a seemingly endless run of losing sessions is normal, shouldn't an equally seemingly endless run of winning sessions also be the norm? the only thing you get after your horrific downswing is just a more balanced result of winning and losing sessions; with the winning sessions hopefully prevailing. when you DO get on a heater, it NEVER equals the same velocity of the downswing.

[@drdrayfromla99]

Yes, went through it last year where it seemed like every time I got my money in good pre river I would get massively screwed over on the river. Worst day was it happened 6x. Lost 4 buy ins that day. I wasn’t playing tilted, I was getting in good every time and every river fucked me over. Had to step away for a week.

[@PatrickA1]

The gto bot likes to wait for good runouts before putting in alot of chips. Maybe do less protecting.

[@louisvillalba7695]

I’m on a 20 year downswing 😂

[@dustinyao5843]

Hi blackrain. Will you play the WCOOP event? :)

[@OleguitoSwagbucks]

I had a few month long downswing on demo money on Pokerstars, it was awful.

[@webguy943]

"Im done with poker!! i quit!!!" "See u tomorrow Nathan"

[@seekingbalance7314]

Nathan, are there specific things you did during your extended downswing? I hate telling myself, "you're just running bad", because I feel like it's an easy excuse that can potentially cover up leaks in my game. During my downswings, I try to take even better notes and examine these spots more thoroughly. This helps me combat the self doubt that creeps in during the non-stop beatings. Is there anything else you specifically do besides keeping up a positive mindset?

[@ZicoDuco]

Just make sure that you are improving every day during your downswing, especialy during a downswing. If you keep running bad for a longer time, saying its just a downswing won't help you from keeping sane. Because deep down there, you probably realise its also a possibility that you're not giving it your best (study wise).

[@donkrx7]

Really nicely said, thank you.

[@wwz1011]

This is your best video EVER!

[@robotube7361]

You're such a bad actor 4:10 Haha still so funny. Love it.

[@garygwinn4256]

Bad advice says: You get paid by the Hour in poker. Good advice says: Play more and higher when your in Stroke and dont play at all and just study when your not in stroke.

[@Fixundfertig1]

Brilliant!!

[@m1kegt]

i just take a break from playing

[@rtanaka]

Nice. Thanks for the video

[@robinhoodofpoker6526]

I did the math and I think you need to play poker for atleast 60 yrs, 365 days a year, 15 hrs per day and 30 hands per hour before you can actually get 10 milyon hands played.

[@caldogg8851]

Im starting to get good at 10nl. The next step now is 25nl. Do you have any tips on how to move up?

[@mitchmana201]

The same must be true to eventually have a run of cards where you can't lose for what seems like years... I'm still waiting for that one 😂

[@tomasdirocco]

ohh another grat video for new players like me. If i could ask you something it will be How you distinguish between running bad and playing bad. What are the stats you can track on a software to find leaks in your game. Thank u very much for the vlog

[@cheche1301]

Thank you for doing this. Good advice man

[@BlackRain79Poker]

Any time!

[@fireuser11]

Am getting my azz handed to me right now...this is why am here lol 😅

[@mariodegrazia7497]

Great video.

[@BlackRain79Poker]

Happy to help, thanks for watching my poker videos!

[@GeoPerspective]

Going into my 2nd year of weak results playing live. This gives me a little enthusiasm to go into the casino today. It's incredible how long a downswing can feel when you're just doing 1 hand at a time in the casino.

[@mrki412]

Casino and poker has no similarity.

[@kerrypooley406]

@@mrki412 Strange statement. Unless you're talking Home-Games or Online-Only, all Poker is at a Casino unless I've missed something here?

[@mrki412]

@@kerrypooley406 you really don't know understand? Casino games are not profitable, texas hold'em is.

[@GeoPerspective]

@@mrki412 are you trolling? texas hold'em has been around since before the internet. Guess where they played it back then?

[@mrki412]

@@GeoPerspective you don't get it, do you? Machine casino games are made to win 75-85% of games by the law and live card game has different odds.

[@vlasov18]

-You'll eventually go through a run of cards that don't seem posible on this earth, on this planet- I cracked out loud

[@TopSpinWilly]

Gd sheit. Thanks man.