Bad, Bad and More Bad

I have been getting my ass kicked this week! I lost somewhere in the neighborhood of $5,000 over the past 3 days playing a mix of $10/$20 and $15/$30 6-max limit cash games. You'd think after 6 years of playing and having runs like this 50 times It wouldn't bother me anymore. But it does! It sucks!

Everything had been going so well for past few months in the cash games. Sure I had a bad WSOP and a bad WCOOP this year, but they weren't terrible and I could always count on my bread and butter. It felt like my opponents were powerless to stop me. I didn't win every day, but I banged out a bunch of $1,000 and $2,000 days in August and September. The more I played the more I won which, of course, is how it's supposed to work!

In fact things were so steady that I fell into a bit of a trap. I didn't push it when things were going well. I made enough to pay the bills and cover my tournament disappointments, but I didn't top off the reserves. I had WAY to many days where I put in 1,000 hands and called it a day. I took too many breaks that lasted too long. I played in bigger games sometimes that weren't good, because I was bored only making $500 or $1,000 in a few hours! What the hell is wrong with me!?!

Having a good, positive, confident mindset is key to playing poker well and there's no way to fake it. If you're stressed or upset or just feel like you're going to lose, there's no switch to flip or magical tactic that you can use to take yourself back to feeling the way you need to.

So now I'm pissed! Pissed that the games have been super tough these last few days. Pissed that I'm getting bad cards or running into tough situations. And pissed that I'm pissed, because it means I'm not in the right mindset. I'm worried about losing instead of expecting to win.

Today was the last day that I get the benefits of being Supernova Elite. In 3 hours I go back to being regular Supernova. :(

I'm going to take the next day and a half off, spend some time with family and friends and then get back on the horse Friday night. Hopefully when I come back I'll be at least feel neutral instead of negative.