How do you deal with extremely bad days in online poker?

[deckix]

Honestly? I treat them like bad weather. You can’t control when it rains, but you can control whether you stand outside crying about it or go make a sandwich and wait it out.

When the cards turn against me, I remind myself that poker isn’t a game of being lucky—it’s a game of surviving unluckiness better than everyone else. Bad days are like the gym sessions where everything hurts but you still show up, because that’s how you actually get stronger (and slightly more sarcastic).

Sometimes I’ll review my hands, sometimes I’ll review my life choices, and sometimes I’ll just close the laptop, stare into the void, and whisper, “nice hand” to no one in particular. The key is not letting one bad session trick you into thinking you suddenly forgot how to play.

Variance doesn’t care about your feelings—but if you can laugh through the chaos, take notes instead of tilting, and come back sharper tomorrow, you’ve already beaten half the field.

So yeah—bad days suck. But they’re also the tuition you pay for a PhD in emotional control. And the best part? You get to brag about your scars the next time you stack someone who tilts easier than you did yesterday.

 

[thwenth1983]

Good morning everyone, I’ve been playing poker since 2018, and I’ve played for poker teams twice. In the contract, I was required to play at least 600 MTTs per month. I don’t have the exact statistics, but I believe that about once every 10 days, I go through a stretch where I lose several hands in a row even when I have the best hand. For example: my AKo loses to AQo in an all-in preflop, AA loses to 88, or I hit a flush but the opponent makes a full house.

I’m talking about those days when absolutely everything goes wrong in poker. I usually plan to play 20 MTTs or more in a day, but when I start losing like that repeatedly, I stop after about 10 and only play again another day. Even though I know it’s perfectly possible to lose several times in a row even with the best preflop hand, it’s still one of the hardest situations for me to deal with.

But as regular players, we have to keep in mind that by making the right plays and following proper ranges for each position, we’ll be profitable in the long run.

 

[successlaw]

In those days I use to play 6 tables instead of 8 - 9 and focus on them.
Also I take some breaks for a gym session or a outside walk

 

[anbu210]

Though you may have skill on playing poker, bad beats are inevitable, When his happens, rather playing more and trying to recover, I would take a break, listen to songs, watch movies and away from poker. What I noticed earlier was while playing more after several bad beats I don't play upto my full potential, play hands that not supposed to play and try to defeat the person with whom I lost bad beat....

 

[DarkSage]

Just lost a KK to a 64o.

To me, I got to the conclusion online poker is utterly broken, and uninstall it.
That's how I dealt with it. lol

Nowadays I installed it back just to play freerolls for fun. Everything else I don't care, poker online is rigged.

 

[Mantinhoo]

I take a short break, review my hands, and remind myself it’s just variance. Bad runs happen, but staying calm and disciplined is key.

 

[moraeskvmi]

Nothing like one day after another!!

 

[Chebchoub]

Hi
I'll stop playing the next day, or at least not play in the same poker room.
But if this continues, I'll forget about poker for at least one day.
Good luck.

 

[Cooking]

Take a break for a few days, do something else non related to poker and come back fresh to play again.

 

[oriole]

I log off and take a break. Chasing losses just makes it worse.

 

[Mazembe]

First thing, you need to know when to walk away. When I started I would blast my entire bankroll within hours, which is just stupid. Now I've learned and know that today things are just not going my way, getting bad beats after each other, unlucky river etc. I close my PC and go watch Poker content, Hustlers casino, the Lodge etc and I enjoy and relief the pain by doing that

 

[wushibala]

You can’t really influence that in any way, so if I’m running bad on 888, I just go play on pokerstars.

 

[Kerasuss28]

How do you deal with extremely bad days in online poker?

Take Some day of

 

[flabilim]

DBad days are part of the game, for the most part, wait for the next day and try again, I tried to review what you did wrong

 

[pavel1111111]

There îs always ,,the next one,,....😜..or If You cant get OVER the lost , then tale a few days off👉

 

[dzsire]

In reality, whether you are annoyed or not, you have little influence on things. You have to let go of the game for a while and find something else to do, relax, and then you can return to the tables with a clear head, forgetting about the negative streak.

 

[Lux12]

To handle extremely bad days in online poker, focus on emotional control, review your play objectively, and take strategic breaks to reset your mindset.

 

[Diman111]

I try not to worry too much.

 

[drallias]

Just stop playing amd take your time to rest your brainz if you keep playing it will bet worsw

 

[LUKADONCICMVP]

it will always have worse days.

 

[bullkk]

I go out for a long walk in the fresh air

 

[Cbabycee]

If I start playing and I’m missing everything I get bad beats with like idiots calling a pot raise pre with 58 off to my AA and then calling my pot bet on a rainbow board that flopped A7J turned 4 and rivered a 6. To hit his miracle straight with a hand that should have folded pre, and again on the flop, then I usually log off.

It doesn’t matter what anyone says, even if you play each hand as it comes and move on from the last, when you are hitting nothing and getting bad beats you play differently. In the same way as when you win your confidence shows in your reactions, bets etc, the same goes when you are loosing, and I HATE loosing so I walk away and try another day. Or another site lol. I can have a god awful day on GG and miss everything but on party I’m checked in with 23 and hitting full houses.

If you are playing and losing, and think it’s a good idea to keep playing to try and get your losses back, I would seriously have a think about whether things are getting out of hand. They say addicts can be as addicted to losing as winning - but surely no one in their right mind likes loosing so why continue to play if it’s an off day?

If a footballer wasn’t on his game he’d get substituted, if a sports player isn’t doing well they don’t make the team. I’m going to assume most in this thread are not pros because I’d assume to be a pro you have to know your limitations, be aware of your strengths and weaknesses and to make money you need to go into every single game believing you can win it - know when you are winning and more importantly know when you are losing. If you are going into a hand with AA expecting to get bad beat you arent in the right frame of mind to be playing solid poker and winning games. You will either play weak which will let people hit miracle hands or you’ll overplay and be risking your tournament on a hand that’s only the strongest pre flop, and lose to a lose player who thinks you must have a hand you don’t think is strong enough to play and then a race is on. (I always think are they scared of bad beats or is it a low pair or JQ etc - if the hand was strong you’d want people to call… but even with a strong hand myself i rarely risk a whole tournament on a race pre flop. Baffles me why anyone would tbh)

But I digress. When I’m not feeling the game I log off and do something else.

I only started winning tournaments when I truly started believing I could. Before then I’d get deep final table, heads up even and feel not good enough and loose. When I got the confidence and it clicked I started winning consistently. So if in your head your feeling it’s a bad day, why punish yourself 🤷🏻‍♀️

 

[Cbabycee]

Go to the mirror and say: its not my fault, they rigged it.
Then go watch netflix.


I'm joking. kkkkkk (I'm not.)

I hope you are

Definitely don’t stoke the coals of paranoia. Maybe review some of your recent hands and ask yourself whether you were unlucky, or whether you played it badly. Is it the game or is it you not on your game? Tired, moody, stressed? Know how you are being perceived, consider why someone may have called - are they a complete idiot or have you been playing every hand loose? Are you limping from early position? If so you are bringing hands that shouldn’t be in the pot in, and you have zero information on the strengths of your opponents hands.

Sometimes it will just be bad luck, and idiot calls from a dude who loses it all the next hand. If your having a bad day maybe do some learning rather than playing, watch others play, (they get beat too).

Most importantly don’t take it personally. Dont play emotionally. If you loose a hand move on don’t get hung up on destroying whoever beat you because you ignore everyone else. It’s never personal or shouldn’t be it’s a game of both skill and luck. If the strongest hand pre flop always won it would be a pretty boring game don’t you think?

Always remember that you’ve won hands you shouldn’t have too, everyone has, you’ve had days when you hit miracles, and days you don’t. Learn which is which

 

[Fallenglory]

It's really enlightening to see how everyone deals with bad streaks in poker, but one thing seems in common for everyone. We all have bad days.

It happens, how you act on it is up to you. Taking responsibility about how you act when you lose a hand is a huge step forward I feel. Building in some safe guards helps too, I always know I'm moving away from my A-game when I get grumpy or want to make sassy comments to the player I just lost too. That's a great point to stop the session or the day, or even a few days if needed.

Enjoy the game, don't let the game play you.

 

[BetterThanAvgButNotByMuch]

Keep the limits low so when things do wrong, you don't blow up your account.

Stop playing, review hands and the review player notes.

If you don't have the skill to know if you're being outplayed or putting chips in bad then use a poker calculator and redo pots and throw some questions up on a message board like on here or 2+2 etc.

If you're getting outplayed then don't go back, lol.

if they're donking off money off doing silly stuff when they dont need to or their actions arent justified then build your account back the right way slowly, then go back there with the right mindset, some discipline and try again.

wash and repeat with reviewing hands and gain some experience and knowledge along the way, gl.