Poker is an interesting endeavor. There are times where you’re invincible, where you think you could take on Johnny Effing Chan if only you could sit down with him (only one time, waiting patiently for the nuts), times where Phil Hellmuth would be your bitch. Then there are days where you can catch a card to save your life. The majority of your wins are suckouts, high percentage and with the right odds, but suckouts nonetheless. Times where you feel like every two bit newbie who sits down after watching the WPT or WSOP and plays any two sooted will wipe the floor with you.
How’s your poker been going? As you can probably tell, mine has been up and down lately. I had a pretty good night on Monday, but Tuesday night left me wanting. Even on one table, down 8BB on the other. “Tight Chris” was playing last night and it got to the point that if I raised, say with the one time I got rockets UTG, everybody folded around. Joy! Ditto on the other table. Tight Chris still couldn’t catch cards at the right time to make an impact at that table.
My major excitement last night (to me anyway) was when I pulled off a couple check raises Actually, one failed. I rivered a full house in EP and I checked after leading out betting on the turn. The other person in the pot used up almost all their time and then just checked too. Damn. The other time it worked perfectly. I checked in EP, there were four others in the pot and I knew at least one of them would bet. I had the nuts (flush or something, it doesn’t matter) and raised the better and got them all to come along to the river. I led out then fearing a check around. I generally don’t check raise, it’s on the edge of FPS for me, but I had the nuts both times, there was no way I could lose, so I went for it. I still don’t slow play my sets though. They go hard from the get go 
I tightened up a bit after I reviewed how I was playing (at least at my Party tables). I was chasing things too much. I’ve beeen playing kind of fast and loose lately, going more on “gut” than odds and such. I know that at the low limit games pot odds aren’t as big a deal, the implied odds from the calling stations make almost any drawing hand worth it, but I had noticed that I was making just terrible calls. Thankfully none of this has hurt me too much. I would win enough to offset them for the most part. I’m not playing dumb, just not as smart as I should be. I’m not worried, nor has my bankroll taken any sort of hit outside normal variance (normal poker variance, thankfully not blackjack variance), so things are still OK. I have enough outside things (family, school, etc.) to get too worked up about poker. Yes, I’m not building up my bankroll by hundreds per day, but I am getting in a hundred or two hands a day and on the whole coming out ahead. Winning 2BB/100 hands and only playing 100 hands doesn’t increase the roll very fast, but I’m worrying more about my play than the money. I figure once I can concentrate on poker I’ll have enough of the skills to really start going to town. That’s when I’ll concentrate on the money side.
On a side note, I started running yesterday. I decided that my fat ass wasn’t getting any thinner sitting on it all day and then at night playing poker, doing school work, etc. I lost about 40 pounds last year dieting, but have since gained about 15 back. I think if I excercise I’ll be able to lose the rest or at least not be so “flabby”. I wouldn’t mind weighing what I do now if I didn’t have a potbelly. I felt like I was going to die, but an hour or so later I felt great. This morning when I woke up at 5AM to go again, I was sore as hell. Ug! I’m only doing about 1.5 miles right now. That’s taking me about 20 minutes and I’m dead afterward. I do feel better a while later though and I’ll get there soon, lowering my times and increasing distance. I’m going to concentrate on the running (or other cardio) for now, I’m in a world of hurt in that area and I think it will go a long way to helping me lose weight and to get into shape.
Chris,
Interesting post. I’m actually newer to poker and the online experience in particular than you are. That being said, I do see this common theme in many of your posts (incidentally, I read you blog regularly and have enjoyed it very much). Confidence is critical in poker, as it’s the only way we will stick with our “plan” when times get tough. The temptation to stray can overwhelm anyone if they loose confidence in their plan. Mix in a few bad beats and the next thing you know you’ve blown an entire buy in and feel like the morning after an all night bender - sore as hell and unable to remember what you did the night before. That’s one big leak in my game that I’m trying hard to fix. I hope things pick up for you at the tables and maybe I’ll sit down across from you sometime soon.
Exactly. I’ve found that whenever I go on tilt it can be devastating. You just cannot win all the time. You will take bad beats. Get over it. I’m not 100% by any means, but I’m getting better. You just have to play your best game, the results will follow over the long run.