Are we there yet?

After last week's marathon at Red Rock and my success I realized that I have to stay focused on my play and maintain my focus on poker. I can only achieve continued success and improvement through playing regularly. I am going to try to get back to 20 hours a week minimum and work on my skills at the table.

With the new month starting, and tonight being my first night off I intended to get in 4-5 hours at the tables. I had to decide where to play first. Red Rock has no more freeroll going on, and only gives $1 an hour in comps. Rio only spread 2/5 and it is way over my bankroll to play there, Wynn scares me with their no-cap buy-ins..... so I settled on Treasure Island. They have $2 an hour in comps, good promotions for local players, and some pretty good games...

Before I went out tonight to start playing, I wanted to take Estie up to the mountains. She loves the mountains, and so do I. Unfortunately it was a windy, overcast day but we went up anyways.... It is a short 40 minute drive up there, and has nice relaxing scenary on the way. We got up the mountain and got some trail maps from the ranger station. They have about 10 different trails and as I browsed through them I saw one that was 1.4 miles each way, and rated as "Moderate". So we decided a nice hike would be just what we needed...

Now I need to have a conversation with whoever rates these trails.... This "Moderate" trail was 1.4 miles of rocky trails with a 1040 feet total rise, including a final natural staircase at the top before getting to the waterfall. To make it even more challenging we had breezes up to 30 MPH and it was 60 degrees on the top of the mountain.... It also turns out that I am NOT in good shape :) Well... technically I *AM* in a good shape, that shape is just round. Round is NOT a shape that climbs mountains. I have the utmost respect now for the hikers, and especially my Dad who is planning to hike the entire Appalachian trail. I did 1.4 miles and was dying before I got .5 miles up the trail.... I can't imagine doing 100's of miles. I am definately going to get in better shape and work up to doing the entire loop around the top of the mountain which is about 16 miles with a climb from 8000 to 11500 feet in elevation.

We finishing the ALMOST 3 mile treck without incident, and felt a great sense of relief when we saw the car on the way back down. A big lunch at Maccaroni Grill and a nap and I was ready to play some poker. I headed down to Treasure Island around 7:30 and didn't get into a game until 8:30. I immediately started out by playing awful, and gave away 100 dollars in the first 30 mins.... a big hand doubled me back up and then I tried to bluff the nuts again (apparently I have to do that at least once a day), and was back down the 100 I had just gotten back.

I managed to hit a gutshot in a huge pot and was rolling along playing very well after the first hour, getting good reads on players and slowly building up to around +300 for the night. I then get 78 suited in the cutoff limped to me so I limp in. Button raises to 20 dollars and 3 callers so I call. Flop is 589 2 diamonds and a very loose aggressive player to my right bets 15 dollars. Pair and a gutshot so I call. Turn is a 2nd 5 and it is checked to me. I decided I am going to take it down right here and bet 50, folded to the loose aggressive who calls. River is another 8 giving me 8's full of 5's. Checked to me and I am contemplating what he will call. The only hands I lose to are Pocket 5's, 9's, or 98. While I am thinking this guy says "I will call anything you bet so just check". Now it isn't like we have been best friends... so I don't think he is "being nice". I decide to see how serious he really is... and say "OK all in then". He INSTANTLY calls. Now I am not so happy... until he flips up his Q/5 off suit for 5's full of 8's and the 2nd best hand. I rake in a 950 dollar pot and after 20 more mins cash out up 880 for the night and head home.

Work tomorrow at 1 PM and then back to the tables to try to keep it up for a few more days.

October Checkup

Well... I left Atlanta February 24th to begin this journey of mine. Along the way I had great runs where I couldn't lose, and weeks upon weeks where I was frustrated beyond belief. There were a few times when I wasn't sure I could do it anymore... when I thought everything I had learned was completely useless. I even had to take a few breaks and re-analyze my play. After 7 months now I have learned a lot of new things I had never considered...

1) It is VERY VERY hard to seperate yourself from the winning and losing. You will never be good at poker if every time you lose it affects you drastically.

2) Poker is not a game you control. It is like baseball... it helps to have strong shoulders and a good swing... but you have to hit what they throw at you. If you can't hit a curve ball, you won't make it long in the league...

3) If you try to win, you lose. If you try not to lose, you lose. If you play scared, you lose. If you play afraid, you lose. If you daydream or don't concentrate, you lose. If you do everything perfect, and play exactly correct on every hand... you MIGHT win.

4) Poker is an ever changing game and if you can't adapt you will not make it. One style does not work for every night. You cannot go into the game with a "plan" and expect everyone else at the table to go with it. It is even harder when the game shifts from one extreme to another in the same session due to changing of players.


The end result of 7 months of this is I am more driven than ever to make this succeed... I am finally starting to get educated properly. It is a lot harder than I expected it to be... It takes a LOT of mental stamina and focus, but I am making the adaption and improving my game. Dealing the game definately helps by keeping me sharp when I am not playing and helping supplement the income.