Is Run of Bad Cards Really Common?

Hello,

I know you are richer than me when it comes to Poker experience so I’m sure you can answer my question. For an extended length of time, what’s the average that I can run bad cards?

As of now, I’m going through a patch with regards to my last 35 pocket pairs (I knew it because of Poker Tracker); exactly zero times, I hit a set. For two times, I got KK only to have an ace flop. I also got AA but only to have two kings fall on the flop. There was a hand I didn’t play that was supposed to be my only hope. Then, I called a raise of $1.75 preflop with 44, suddenly only to have the BB raise it to $9 with his JJ at a .25/.50 table. Sure enough, I couldn’t call that raise instead just watched two fours flop.
I don’ know why but the only “good” hand I had was AJ and flopping a straight, but later on to only to chop it with another AJ. Maybe it was just not my lucky day. I’ve been through a lot of bad runs of cards before, but this one is different.

But of course, I never allowed luck or even fate to come in between my success and failure. I started to work on, called the raises, etc.

Just an information, this run of bad cards began exactly the very day I withdrew some money that I’d won before. But I hope this has nothing to do with any bad luck or the like. As of now, I’m just playing smaller sessions. And for the record, I’m still winning money at the site but to some extent, I still need to withdraw.

Any advise will be very much appreciated. Thanks!

Josef

Josef,

You are asking a question most players ask. As far as running bad, it is random as the cards. Some players can run a long time in either direction. For example, Bill Edler had a fantastic run in tournament poker in 2007. It lasted most of the year.

Adversely, he has ran really bad so far in 2008. I have seen players go months at a time losing every day. On average, a good player should expect to win 7 out of 10 sessions. At the same time, the same good player may lose 30 sessions in a row.

Part of this depends obviously on the person’s play. The other part depends entirely on luck. Doyle Brunson is quoted as saying, “It doesn’t matter how good you are. It all changes once those cards hit the table.”

Tags: flop, raise, run of bad cards, straight, Texas Holdem