Monday, October 23, 2006

Poker in the back, Liquor in the fridge.

I've decided to give up poker for a while. The swings are just to drastic for me and I can't handle the downswings very well. I really beat my self up when I lose and I can't do that anymore.

I've been playing $15-30 limit online (R.I.P.) and $3-5 no-limit hold 'em at the B&M and I have had more total wins then losses, but the ammount loss isn't worth what I'm winning. I'm still up in the long run, just not as much as I would like to be. And I figure it's best to quit while I'm ahead.

Looking at my records I've noticed that my greatest weakness has been what used to be my biggest strength. The Sit-N-Go's.

I make it to the money in 7 out of 10 SNG's but it still doesn't cover the loss. I need to consistently finish 2nd or 1st in 8 out of 10 to really see money come in, and I've just been completly card dead, bluffing at the pot with no pair and no draw with a guy holding bottom pair calling and beating me.

The worst beat I've had this month was in the $3-5 NL game. I get pocket 9's in middle position, I limp and everyone folds to the big blind who raises it to $20 I call figuring he's on a steal. The flop is X-9-J he checks and I bet $35 he pushes all-in and I instantly call. Before I could get the entire sentence out of my mouth he flips over pocket jacks.

I'm devastated. I know at this point there's only one card that can save me and there's no way it's going to come. It felt as if my stomach turned upside down and decided to split in half and exit my mouth and ass at the same time.

It was just one of those hands were I made the wrong read. He seemed like the type of guy to play pocket Q's or better. Ever since then I haven't been able to get my game back on track and I think the only way to do it is to not play for a while... a long while.

I suppose this could be a blessing in disguise. I could look at this as a chance to get my priorities straight and put the more important things in life on top of the list. Family, the finances, hell maybe even get some writing done.

It kind of irratates me that some people are able to go to a poker table and some how extract a story out of the people they play with, they're able to record every single detail that happens at and around the table to memory and make a story out of it. I can't do that, I get to wrapped up in the game, to busy calculating the pot odds and counting my outs to stop and take a look around. And I've been that way for a while, I haven't been able to use my writers' eye. I use to be able to sit on my couch and look out the front and write until my brain was completly empty.

Lately, the only time I've been able to get something sounds remotely interesting is when I'm two-thirds asleep. When I'm in that half-dream like state a thousand words flow freely in to my mind and form these beautiful sentences in my mind, only to slip away when the morning comes.

No comments:

Post a Comment