I just went through a horrible series of tough losses and bad beats in my sit n go poker games. I played 12 games and lost every one of them even though I felt I was playing at the top of my game. The beer bottles stacked up fast as each loss stung even more than the last.
If I had two aces in the pocket and went all in preflop then some knuck with ace king offsuit would call me and hit a straight or a flush. In all of the games (except one where I misjudged my opponents hand) I had my money in the pot with the best hand but the other players always seemed to draw out on me. Out of 12 losses I made it to middle to late stage every time but managed to finish outside the money in all of them.
As my losses added up I was tempted to stray from my normal strategy but I didn’t. I decided to take a little break and play some cash games where I was able to recover most of my sit n go losses. Still, sit n go is my game so I made my way back and persisted, playing the strategy I believe works best.
I felt I just needed one win to turn the tide and it happened. In the 13th game I believe I was still playing the same game as I played in all the prior 12 games. This time I took third place. It wasn’t great, but it was in the money. In the next two games I took first place and so the string of bad beats ended just as quickly and unceremoniously as it had started.
I know, I know… as I’ve said before, “nobody gives a damn about your bad beats” and that isn’t really the message I’m trying to get across here. I’m saying that we need to avoid going on tilt and that can be easier said than done. We need to play the proper strategy even when we see loose players sucking out all around us. By playing a solid game, using proper strategy and avoiding going on tilt we can overcome the bad beats and strings of losses that invariably strike all poker players from time to time.
I hope my string of bad luck is over for a while now. I’m back to my normal percentage of winning about 60 to 70% of my sit n go games. The key to success at online poker in my opinion is consistency. Be a rock and do not let the vagaries of short-term variance affect your mind.