Bloggers / Matthew Pitt / 14 September 2009 / Leave a comment

Losing in poker is inevitable. You can play perfectly yet if the cards do not fall your way you will lose. It is as simple as that. When a player has several losing sessions in a short period of time they will often blame this on being on a downswing.

From a theoretical perspective, downswings do not really exist, they are just a name given to the observed pattern in a random sequence of events, in the case of poker this is the aggregate of an individuals results. However, poker players believe in them and how you deal with them can have a significant effect on your bankroll.

Poker players make three incorrect assumptions about downswings. They believe they have a fixed frequency, have a maximum size and a fixed shape. How many times have you read on a forum that a player has gone on a 20 buy-in downswing so it must be over and they will start winning again?

In theory a downswing could continue for as long as you play but in reality the cards and results will even out with time but it is impossible to pinpoint when this will happen and how long for.

Dealing with downswings is difficult due to the fact we hate losing, and this is amplified when we lose despite being a big favourite in a hand. When you are being consistently outdrawn by your opponents it is very easy to become disillusioned with poker, have a negative mindset both of which make it very easy to go on tilt and lose a large proportion, if not all, of your bankroll.

The best way to deal with downswings is how you should be playing poker anyway and that is focussing on the long term rather than there here and now. The downswing is just a short period of time and should not distract you from your long term goal.

Try to desensitise yourself from the monetary value of your losses, just think of them as number of bets or buy-ins. Losing $2000 and thinking of it as a potential holiday you could have bought is asking for trouble as it could lead you to become depressed and to play sub-optimally. Also, if you are making the correct decisions you should be happy regardless of the result.

It is also important not to let your ego control you by trying too hard to get back even or playing stakes too high for your bankroll. Ego often goes hand in hand with emotion and you should strive to leave any emotion out of your thought processes and decisions at the table. By thinking logically you should not go on tilt.

Finally make sure you continue to study the game despite losing. In fact it may be even more important to go over hands during a downswing than when you are winning. Losing can make you alter your style of play drastically which can lead to the downswing lasting longer than it may have done.

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