Good Morning Ladies and Gentlesharks! HAHA!!! "Gentlesharks." lol...sorry...I'm easily amused.

So. I don't post much. Presently, my schedule is pretty chaotic; and, though I've been making poker "something" of a priority over the last year, family, work, friends, and beer still come first. Huh. I just realized that I typed work before friends despite hating my job, wierd. At any rate, soon I'll be able to have a good, regular, routine balance of all the things I love; which, feels amazing since it was accomplished through hard work and a lack of sleep. ;-P I'm sure many of you can relate on some level. Perhaps that's why you're reading. And, that's why I'm sharing; because, after one year, I can only grin at all the advice I've ignored, the hits I've taken, the poor advice I'VE given (of course, only on RARE occassions), the AA two hands in a row HU at the FT for the knockout blow (HOLY FUNKIN' FUN), the $900 bankroll I lost my second month playing over my head at $5/$10 IN ONE F'N HAND WHEN MY AA GETS CALLED ALL-IN ON A 2-5-10 RAINBOW FLOP BY J10os AND, you guessed it (sorry for caps), turn: 10 , hold on kid, the poker god's would like to teach you a very, very, very valuable lesson, the RIVER: 10 = runner, runner, quads for a total pot of $almost all my f'n money. I lost the last $180 of my bankroll at that time during the two hours following the runner-runner quads incident, ignoring all the important advice I had ALREADY READ, trying to win it back, tilting like a maniac.

Whoa. Maybe you think I'm nuts (I know some of you do), LOL, but, there's not a word nor thought in the World that could explain how extraordinarily content and grateful I am for where I'm at. Realistically, it could be A LOT F'N WORSE. Which is exactly WHY I'm typing this, to share, in hopes that some may learn, or, ignore, or, maybe chuckle a bit at their own hubris and other faults.

First of all, to clear this up, the nic "Devil's Shadow," is a reflection of my personal philosophy, not my poker play (hehe, on most days). Which, very vaguely, means that my existence grows in exponential and direct proportion to the amount of light the Devil blocks from the sun. In my defense, though, before I go on, you must know that my "inner devil" is a very, very, bright individual who makes very, very convincing arguments that sound very, very reasonable and rational in the moment. And, when I regain consciousness eight hours and 2 Excedrin later, my "inner devil" is sleeping, and my bankroll's blanked for at least 2 pay periods. THAT, was ONE thing I did do: when I scored a decent win, I'd cash some out. Though I haven't kept track until recently, as far as poker goes, I've been a break even player since I started playing two years ago. Laugh if you wish, but THAT'S what I'm grateful for. If I didn't have that ONE good habit RE: cashing out some of my winnings, I'm sure I would have lost a ton. When I chuckle at all this, I chuckle at the fact that I am my own, and sole, retarder. LOL... It's a word. I know. I was shocked too. But, I love it. I finally got to use it. I'm chuckling at my own retardednes and the realization that IF I WOULD'VE HAVE TAKEN THE ADVICE I WAS GIVEN I wouldn't have lost over 2K in profit. By "professional" standards, though my personal real money loss is zero, my REAL loss was the 2K I SHOULD have held on to.

This all got started because a LOT of people, in that little chatbox thing that's causing so many problems lateley, and in the forums here (I lurk unless I feel I can add something of, at least, comedic value), resorting to this cliche "Don't take poker so seriously" argument in response to some other member/player's anger/sarcasm/negativity/nasty-chatting/etc... And, a bit ago, I notice a P5's advertisement on the side of a cardrunners page that says, "The Homepage of Serious Online Tournament Players." Busted a gut. lol. Wow. Maybe I'm wrong here, but, I think that everyone takes their tournament play seriously, to some degree, and with variable values. Even the guy content to drop $100/week every week for the rest of his life values the fun of it and probably takes his fun seriously at the same time. It's no fun for him to see some LAG pushin' the table around; but IT IS FUN to play sheriff during an online poker game and "RUN THAT MOTHA' DOWN!!! MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" BUT, BUT, when fun loving Deputy Bluff Buster runs down money loving Laggy Loose Lips with a runner-runner flush, and Laggy Loosey let's Deputy Bluff know how terrible his play was, the Deputy's ego pangs at the truth of it and must defend, so Deputy turns hypocrite and fires back "Don't take the game so seriously." Or, whatever. Many of us are guilty of being on both sides of this fence, myself included. If you've just started playing poker and have read advice relating to the aforementioned topics, lol, take it. I mean, above all that, do be certain to do what's right for you, everybody's different. Really, that's what I'd like everyone to take from this post, rememberance of the fact that we're all different people, with different reasons for being here, different values, different priorities, different plans, different everything. It's a medicine we should take daily. Unfortunately, I'm forgetful and terrible with routine. BUT, the point is this: WE ALL take this seriously, to some degree, on some level; we are people, our experiences, our decisions, our "spirits," will clash, it's inevitable; sometimes, the worst happens to the best of us, and vice versa; such is life and the crumbling of the cookie, eat it.

WE ALL take this seriously, in the moment, whether we chat about it publicly or not is really unimportant - don't take it so seriously. When people take public speaking and text too seriously, it inevitably leads to censorship and fascism, a grotesque and ironic display of disrespect for our right to free speech. The world has seen much more damage from those who take offense than from those who give it. If you've ever complained to admin about someone's chat, "GROW A SPINE AND REMEMBER THIS RHYME: STICKS AND STONES MAY BREAK MY BONES BUT NAMES WILL NEVER HURT ME." You're a fascist and hypocrite, especially if you're American, if you would ever promote banning someone's chat (with the exception of retarders who flame the chat box repeatedly, thereby removing or inhibiting another individual's right to free speech). AND, you're only ruining YOUR chances to use Loose Lip's chatting to your advantage. If someone is firing away in the chat box, how much can they be THINKING about poker? If they're not thinking, they'll make THOUGHTLESS plays. Make sense? Good. Now, remember this, some people out there could really care less what type of judgment someone makes of them based on online behavior, myself included. The GRAND majority of my poker game chat is meant to distract and/or disturb my opponents, to plant those seeds, even my railing after a beat or donkey play. It's not so much that I care about losing that one hand, rather, I hope your mental make-up is weak enough for my banter to have a long lasting affect. And, I DO mean "affect," not "effect," as in, I hope it affects prolonged emotional reactions and associations which eventually EFFECT YOUR RESULTS. Who knows, maybe you already know this, maybe you already know that your mental make-up IS weak, and that's why you seek chat bans on Loose Lips like me, because you fear that my freedom of speech will effect your results. Who knows? I don't. What I do know is that who we are away from these screens cannot be contained in these screens, nor adequately judged through them. Though I might tell you that I'll eat your daughter's liver after you sucked out on the river, that doesn't mean that I'm LITERALLY going to open her up for my next grillout, it doesn't mean I'm a sociopath or serial killer, nor is it any reflection on anyone's True character when they act up like this. *LOL* If anything, we all should be grateful that people can vent their frustrations in such unimportant mediums, better in poker chat than with a pistol, eh? Chances are, if all of us got together on a sunny summer day for beer, steak, and volleyball, we'd have a blast-and those chatbox type conflicts would probably never happen. Remember that the chat box is a beautiful thing that contains lots of valuable and fast moving information. Don't take it for granted. And, don't be so sensitive. For the other end of the spectrum, those like myself, who chat too much, think of all the opportunities you missed at the final table while running your mouth, all the first place finishes you COULD have won had you paid more attention to the game instead of your egocentric thoughts.

Cashing out winnings is an important part of BR Management, as many here have already pointed out; but, the importance of staying within' your limits and keeping a level head about the inevitable variance that comes with playing for the long term are of utmost importance. The key to success in any endeavor is gathering as much information from both sides of the spectrum and observing the results of the application of the information as objectively as possible. If you've just lost 7 straight SNG's because some donkey couldn't fold his whole stack for his Queen high flush draw, maybe the problem is that donkeys never fold, or maybe the problem is that good players sometimes forget that donkeys never fold and bet way too aggressively against the wrong kind of donk. If you get in the habit of being your own devil's advocate, you'll never go wrong, no matter where you go, because, eventually, you'll realize that the CORRECT decision is ALWAYS accessible long before the situation comes up, humans are just really good at convincing themselves that 1) instinct is good enough, and 2) they are never wrong. We make decisions with our heart and rationalize, after the fact, with our head. As we age, though, the head doth plan for what the heart doth want. And, if we plan well enough, we end up doing what we love; so long as we get over self.

Another piece of high quality advice that I won't dare elaborate on because it's simple enough and I'd rather save myself the embarrassment (just take the damn advice, you're as retarded as I am if you don't):

DO NOT PLAY POKER DRUNK.

LOL-that's all on that note!

Lastly, remember that some of us don't have 1001 posts simply because we don't feel the need to (or, maybe rarely have the time to, like me) sit down and write anything worthwhile. Hopefully, you found this read worth your time and, at least, got a chuckle. We're all here for fun. We all take this seriously. We're all human beings with a desire to get better at SOMETHING. Above all though, we should remember that, in such a vast and dynamic universe, we're still tiny creatures with unlimited potential. More often than not we forget that the universe can crush us at any moment. Just remember that we can bounce back and correct mistakes, we can adapt, so long as we remember to be grateful for that fact. If we forget that we have the ability to THINK our way out of the holes we dig, then we will no doubt drown in a sea of emotion, our minds flooded with a lack of reason and knowledge. If we can ground ourselves with simple gratitude for the simple ability to play online poker, we have no choice but to make decisions that will allow us to continue doing so until the end of our days.

Thanks for reading. Good Luck. And, see you at the tables.

Peace,

Sean

I can't help but wonder if ALL of your many posts are simply copy/paste of the original message.

Wierd.

Peace,

Sean

Sean,
I have to wonder why you keep putting links to your boring assed rambling diatribe on everything in general & nothing in particular.

Stop linking this...It sucks.

LTL

p.s. i thought this would be nicer than saying STFU or GTFO

You're correct Quantum...And, no doubt, in the future, when I REALLY put effort into writing a post or article (instead of spur of the moment like this), I'll plan it out and abide by the first law of alluring writing, "KISS-Keep It Simple, Stupid."

peace,

sean