Not sure the right forum but this seems as good as any.

I saw somewhere a definition of a downswing not being over until the bankroll peak where it started was again surpassed. For me this started April 18th and ended today, so it's been a 4.5 month downswing. Not entirely enjoyable but so much learned along the way!

A little history. I put $100 onto Bovada in late February, 2013. Between then and April 18, 2015 I managed to build it up to $1375. Not too bad given that I was playing intermittently, and was a full ring NLHE TAG nit who essentially knew nothing of strategy or theory beyond good starting hands, positional advantages, the 4/2 rule and some other very basic stuff. But I played well enough to be a winning player, perhaps just because I've always been good at cards and a gamer at heart. And maybe lucky along the way, too.

And then the earthquake downswing happened.

In just 5 days my bankroll went from $1375 down to $955 playing full ring NL50. Always pretty good at bankroll management, on that 5th day I went back down to NL25. And I took a long hard look at how I just lost 30% of my bankroll in only 5 days. My conclusion -- 50% variance (nothing seemed to win, ever) and 50% being outplayed. I needed to better understand the game. I needed to study.

And so on that 5th day (or thereabouts) I joined Run It Once and established an Essential membership. A few days later I switched from full ring to 6-max NLHE. My downswing continued to its nadir, where on the 11th day (April 28th) my bankroll was at $821, a full 40% from the peak of $1375. Pretty painful on the face of it, but liberating in many ways since with a good full time job I don't need the money. But, of course, we all like to win so still painful.

From then until now I've split my "poker time" probably 50/50 to playing and studying. Maybe even more studying than playing. I have watched most of the Essential NLHE videos (probably 90% plus), plus quite a few MTT and PLO videos and can attest to the quality. The material here has helped me improve my game exponentially.

Today my bankroll hit $1385 and so the downswing is officially over. It lasted approximately 125,000 hands. I am still playing 6-max NL25 and will take a shot at NL50 at $1500 (prior shots up were taken at $1000 (fail, back down) and then at $1200--success for a bit but then this big downswing).

For now I will relish that this worst downswing I've ever had is officially over and continue to work on improving my game. I am certain I could not have done this without the help of RIO and the Essential pros here. Thank you!