They say one of the most important skills for a poker player is being able to drop down in limits when necessary.

I was forced to practice this life skill once again recently by dropping back down to $1/$2. It always sucks being forced to move down in stakes, but when you're running bad it's almost always a good idea.

I've only logged less than 30k hands at $2/$4, so it's not a huge deal. It's been a pretty turbulent last couple months since coming back from Vegas and, well, including Vegas really.

I've been slightly better than break even + rakeback in the cash games, so while I can't complain too much, it's been pretty frustrating. It's been 50k hands of coolers and suckouts and probably a little bit of bad play mixed in.

Some of it has been bad luck. Some of it is adjusting to the aggressiveness of $2/$4.

At least I've gotten very good at not letting prolonged losing streaks get to me. I've finally reached the point where losing days, weeks, and months don't even effect me.

It's a big step in my growth as a poker player, because when you start letting poker cross over into your personal life, nothing good can come of it. You just start taking it out on people who have even less control on the outcome than you do.

I guess the "trick" is to just look very long term. Though a month may seem like a long time, in the grand scheme of things, it's nothing. It's a blip on the radar.

Poker is a life-long game. There will be good months, and there will be not-so-good months.

I've finally accepted that, so when I lose $3k in a day or get sucked out on in a giant pot I just move on to the next hand. There's no sense in getting worked up over it. The money lost is money that's been won in poker, and I will always be able to win it back.

That said, moving down after a downswing always sucks because it feels like it'll take twice as long to win it back. But obviously moving down is a positive thing because the last thing you want to do when downswinging is play with a short roll.

It makes you play with scared money and at $2/$4 and above, where the games are super-aggressive, scared money sure as shit don't make none.

So I'm back to the $1/$2 grind for the next month or so where I'll be working on my game and re-building. If you see logistik at the tables on Full Tilt, feel free to berate me for three-barreling you with six high ;)