How to Overcome a Downswing

What to Do When It Feels Like Nothing Is Going Your Way

Ah yes — the dreaded downswing.

Every serious poker player has faced it. That stretch where no matter what you do, nothing seems to fall your way. You keep getting coolered. Your bluffs get snapped. You’re running into top of range. And even when you play “perfectly,” the pot slides the wrong direction.

If you’re in that phase right now, let me say this: you’re not alone. Downswings are part of the game — but staying stuck in one doesn’t have to be.

Here’s how I’ve learned to work through downswings without letting them derail my confidence or sabotage my win rate.

Step 1: Start With Radical Self-Honesty

Before you blame variance, take an honest inventory of your play.

Are you truly making the best possible decisions? Or are you slipping — even slightly — in spots you used to play well? Are you making tighter folds out of fear? Forcing bluffs that worked last month but aren’t printing now?

It’s human nature to see ourselves as the victim of bad luck. But the best players are those who stay humble enough to ask: “Am I part of the problem?”

Ask a trusted poker friend to review a few hands. Compare your decisions to a training baseline. And check your mindset — are you playing emotionally? Are you pressing too hard to “get unstuck”?

🎯 Truth: Every downswing has some amount of negative variance — but most downswings also expose strategic leaks.

Step 2: Step Away — and Actually Reset

When the downswing drags on, it’s easy to spiral — especially if poker is the center of your life. But here’s something I had to learn the hard way:

Sometimes the best decision is to not play.

Taking a few days off can do more for your game than 20 more tilted hours at the table. Give yourself permission to rest. Get outside. Move your body. Spend time with people who remind you that you’re more than your win/loss column.

If you return to the game and still feel anxious, desperate, or defeated — that’s a sign you need more time. Never come back until you feel centered.

🧠 Pro Tip: Build a life outside of poker. If your entire identity rises and falls with a session, you’ll ride emotional rollercoasters that wreck your bankroll. But with balance, perspective becomes your superpower.

Step 3: Study Your Way Out of It

When results aren’t going your way, shift your focus to something you can control: your preparation.

Yes, it’s hard to study when you’re frustrated. But this is when study matters most. Even 30 minutes of focused work — reviewing ranges, exploring hand histories, watching a coaching video — can reignite your motivation.

Every time I learn something new, I find myself excited to apply it. It shifts me from “Why is this happening to me?” into “Let’s see if this works.”

And often, that alone is enough to turn the tide.

📘 Highly recommended: The Mental Game of Poker by Jared Tendler. This book helped me reframe bad beats, detach from results, and reset my internal game when nothing else could.

Final Word: Poker Owes You Nothing — and That’s the Point

The longer I’ve played, the more I’ve realized something simple but profound: Poker is chaos — with a long-term edge.

You can get one-outed five times in a row. You can do everything “right” and still lose. The game doesn’t care — and it’s not supposed to.

But here’s the beauty of it: you still get to win. Not every session, not every week — but over time, through discipline, clarity, and truth.

If you can detach from entitlement and make peace with the variance, you become unstoppable. Not because you’ll always win — but because losing won’t break you.

And that’s how the best players survive the downswings — and come out stronger on the other side.