I am the Worst Poker Player on the Planet

OK, maybe not, but man do I feel beaten down. I'll let the graph speak for itself:

Yup, that is nearly 150 BB ($600 - a significant chunk of my bankroll) down in 5500 hands. And while I never claim to play perfectly, I do not think I am playing badly at all. In fact, a significant fraction of the hands at $2/$4 are single-tabled so that I can truly focus on the players and reads, and (if anything) I am more diligent at seat/table selection than I am at $1/$2. It just seems I am getting suckout after suckout. Just as an example, from my 222 hands last night, which left me down a total of $148.50 (yes, by far my worst night so far....)

• I open-raise AQo in the CO, SB calls, BB 3-bets, all call. Flop AQ6. SB hits runner runner 2 and 3 to make a straight with his 54s.
• I openraise AJo UTG (6-max), called by the SB and BB. Flop KQT (2 suited) so for now, I've got the nuts. The turn and river come K and Q for a final board of KQTKQ to turn my hand into trash.
• I have Q9 on a board of x9TJK. Opponent has AQ.

as well as the "usual" QQ vs AA on a T-high board, and AA being beaten by a rivered flush. I only won one pot of any significant size (KK that remained an overpair and somehow didn't get sucked out on by my 2 opponents).

In comparison, here is my $1/$2 results:


Quite a difference. I simply don't understand the wildly divergent results I am getting between the two levels. As I've said before, I think the $2/$4 games are softer in some ways (especially preflop raising) than the $1/$2 games, although the opponents are probably better at hand reading and other postflop skills at $2/$4.

I understand variance and to focus on the correct decisions rather than results but being down nearly 150 BB at the highest level I've played seems to make that application of that a bit hard. Maybe it is time to step down to $1/$2 to "re-tool" my game, but I honestly don't know what this will accomplish - I don't think my game is in massive need of overhaul, but perhaps the reduced stakes will make the losses a bit easier to take.

Perhaps I need to visit the Psychology forum on 2+2 - I know I've got a bit more of my ego tied up in these results than I should ("I know I'm a better poker player than this!"), and perhaps there is some decent advice on how to work through it. Any other advice my legion of readers have would also be much appreciated......