How to deal with a downswing (my personal experience)

Since April till now mid-June, I have played 19 sessions of poker (had a month-long hiatus in between) and won only 8 of them. I lost a few sessions that were 800bb+ but the stakes were pretty wide. From $1/$1 up to $20/$40 and in between. Honestly I have not had such an experience in my career until now, so I want to share with you my experience. 

At first it started off with frustration. Why can't I win like I used to? Why does it suddenly seem so much harder than it was before? Admittedly that led to some poor plays and compounded my annoyance and made me lose more than I had to. 

Things started to go bad after this very day

So the first lesson was ENTITLEMENT. As a decent player, playing against players we perceive to be better than, we somehow feel we are entitled to win. This is one of the biggest tilt factors for most players. I flopped the nuts, I should win this pot. So when the run out gets bad, we still call off knowing that we might not have the best hand anymore, because hey, we flopped the nuts. I played that hand perfectly, trapped him with such beauty and finesse, but the donkey got lucky and spiked his two outer.

So what? If you are not prepared to lose, you are not prepared to win. (if no one said it before, then this is my quote) Getting bad beats or coolered is part of life. It awes me when some poker pros or veteran regs throw tantrums after a beat. If you can't take it on the chin like a champ, maybe you shouldn't be in the ring. 

After successfully stringing together a few more losses, I entered the reflection stage. Is this really a downswing because of LUCK, or BAD PLAY? You have to be honest with yourself, and be HUMBLE and soul search. It helps if you have a good friend (that is good enough to tell you the ugly truth, rather than a white lie) that was on the same tables with you to help you another perspective, or have someone good to analyse some hands that you played. And this time, I found my first few losses were from a combination of tilt and running bad. Hence I took a break from poker to clear my head and get refocused. You need to ask yourself is this really a downswing or I just ran out of luck. 

What should I do Mona? 

After my break I started playing poker again and managed to look at the things that was causing me tilt in a different light. I was back to being positive and focused. However things didn't go well. This time, the real downswing is here, losing 5 out of 6 sessions since returning. I don't want to bore you with the bad beat or cooler stories. I did win some nice pots in between but lost most of my key pots, the kind of pots that really define your session. So at this stage I am feeling sad. A couple of posts ago I said I was feeling depressed, now I really am. 

However, knowing if I start to feel sorry for myself, it will spiral downwards and potentially cause me to play poorly or play tilted that I will end up losing more. So what I've learned is to look at the POSITIVE side of things. Let's put it into perspective. Only 5 months ago I was so happy to be up X amount, then I continued to build that over the next few months to X+++. Then in my downswing, I am now up just X++. For example, you're so happy to be up 3000. Then you ran it up further to 14000. But now you've dropped to 11000. I thought to myself, why was I so happy to be up 3000 and now sad to be up 11000? Just because I hit 14000 at one point? That doesn't make sense. I am 8000 better off than I was 5 months ago, but instead I am sadder than I was. If so, that is really messed up! As recent as a few days ago, I changed my mindset and started to think positively. The results haven't turned yet but I am enjoying my poker more than I was, and not easily affected by the results, nor am I pushing spots to try to eke out a win. So I guess the last lesson is, DON'T FORCE IT. If it is variance, like a storm, wait it out. 

This was also a big turning point session

I will keep you guys updated about my run, but I think in these few weeks I have grown again as a poker player. The emotions I went through, and how by using logical steps to overcome at least the psychological aspects of a downswing, I feel like I have done all I can to minimize the damage, and hopefully be ready to reap the rewards when the variance evens out. 

POKER GUIDE TO: Poker in Riga, Latvia

Our itinerary was 2 weeks in Italy then a hop over to the Baltic countries before ending our trip back in Milan. So for the first two weeks we were shoulder to shoulder with the sea of tourists in Milan, Rome, Florence (Genoa was more tolerable) hence when we landed in Riga, the first experience we had was of relief. As beautiful as Riga is, there isn't an obvious tourist in sight. Wide open spaces, beautiful parks and attractions where you can run around, breathe and not be surrounded by foreigners weaving around trying to snap their photos. Here you can actually sit and stare at the beauty and really take it in. 

You must always go on night walks in Europe

The old town is obviously the main attraction and the city park was gorgeous. But even when we took the time to venture out a little, other parks were also thoughtfully designed for a very laid back, relaxed lifestyle. I did a bit of research on the cost of living and income levels only to find out on average a doctor makes about €2700 a month in Latvia compared to €6000 in Tallinn (4 hours away by bus) or €14000 in Helsinki (6 hours away by bus and ferry). So when I found a decent €5/€5 and €5/€10 game at the casino I was quite surprised. You can comfortably grind €5/€5 here and live better than a doctor's salary. Although I just played on two nights, once on Saturday, which was pumping but the Sunday game was "meh". 

One W one L for a small profit in Riga

Games are held at the Olympic Voodoo Casino, behind the Radisson Blu hotel. You can go to https://lv.olympic-poker.com/galvena for information and register for the waitlist. Entry is free, no obvious dress code, rake is 5% capped at 3bb, free water but other drinks are not. Dealers and most players speak fluent English and are reasonably friendly. As far as I know the casino doesn't have a closing time like some European casinos and the tables can run until pretty late. 

Inside the Central Market

Just another cafe

During the day we got to explore the city. I quite enjoyed the central market, known to be the biggest market in Europe with produce from all over the world other than their own it seems but still at very reasonable prices. There is also a flower market that is just beautiful. The local cuisine to me wasn't too exciting but I tried a couple of local beers that were really tasty. English is well spoken throughout and most locals are quite nice although I did get scammed by a taxi driver. But if you use their taxi app you'll be fine. I also like to travel around on a scooter, especially late at night when the streets are clear. 

Colors in nature

Riga is easily accessible. Our taxi in Rome to the airport (€31) cost more than our flight ticket from Rome to Riga (before luggage add ons and taxes), and was 5x the price of our bus from Riga to Tallinn. From what I've heard, the poker scene isn't as it used to be pre-Covid, but I would still recommend it for a 2-3 day stopover. I hope I will get to visit again and this time I want to rent a car to explore the surrounding small towns and rich nature that is in Latvia.