Downswing

Also: upswing, heater, running bad

A prolonged losing stretch caused mainly by variance rather than bad play. Its opposite is an upswing or 'heater'. 'Running bad' and 'running good' describe the same thing from the player's point of view.

Example. A 40-buy-in downswing is painful but normal for a mid-stakes tournament regular.

Related terms

Full glossary

Variance

The natural swing in results caused by luck in the short term. Even a winning player has losing months; varian…

Bankroll management

The discipline of only playing stakes your bankroll can survive. Rules of thumb: 20–50 buy-ins for cash games,…

Tilt

Playing badly because of emotion — usually after a bad beat. The single biggest reason competent players lose …

Angle shooting

Using technically legal but unethical tricks to gain an edge — pretending to fold, hiding big chips, ambiguous…

Bad beat

Losing a hand in which you were a heavy favourite when the money went in. Many rooms run a bad beat jackpot th…

Calling station

A passive player who calls far too often and rarely raises or folds. Never bluff a calling station; value-bet …

Cooler

A hand where two players both hold very strong holdings and the money is going in no matter what — kings again…

Crusher

A player who beats a game by a wide margin over a long period — the best regular in the room. Being called a c…