Poker Articles

Whats up everyone?  Sorry it took me so long to write my second blog.  I’ve been telling myself everyday that I am going to do it, but then something bad happens that makes me lose interest.  This past week has been one of those weeks--it’s like nothing can go well with poker and with everything else as well.  For example, today I left my apartment to go to Blockbuster, after finishing 24th in the $500 buy-in when my KK lost to 88, and my car was blocked in by some moron.  I did some amazing maneuvering and somehow got out of the spot.  I only had to bump his car like 4 times….that’s a joke….maybe…

I’ve wanted to see “Friday Night Lights” for a while, so I was excited to rent it and watch it with my worthless roommates.  On the way to Blockbuster, I realized I was very low on gas, so I stopped to get some.  I am not the type to forget stuff, but of course I forgot my wallet.  Back to the apartment to get it, and….who wants to guess what happens next?  I get to Blockbuster and they are out of the movie.  I decide I am too lazy to go buy it at Best Buy, so I go back home.  A normal trip from home to the gas station to Blockbuster and back is usually 20 minutes.  This one was an hour and a half.  These types of things have been going on all day every day for about 8 days straight now.  It’s getting to the point where it’s almost funny.  Enough complaining though, lets talk about some poker.

So I definitely have some major flaws in my poker game/lifestyle that have negatively affected my overall winnings a lot this year.  For some reason, whenever I have a great week at $25-50, I do the same thing over and over.  I make a few big withdrawals and leave plenty in to play the game comfortably.  Then I go out to the bars and drink myself into a drunken stooper, come home, and lose a buttload of cash by playing like an idiot.  I’ve done this at least 3 times, and with the combined money that I lost those 3 nights, I could have used the money to do something productive….like buy a nice Mercedes.  Everyone who knows me knows I like to party, and drinking has been a hobby of mine since I was about 11 years old.  I need to find a way to still go out and have fun like a normal college student, but without losing many thousands of dollars when I get home. 

Now as much as I love to talk crap to Beanie on UB, I must say that I consider him a good friend, and I listen to his advice on nearly a daily basis.  He made a suggestion to me that really got me thinking.  He said that I should turn off my "save password" option and change my password before I go out, so that I don’t remember it when I am blacked out drunk.  This is a good suggestion, but I do not think it would work, because I know myself and I would somehow figure out a way to get into UB and play.  I am sure many of you are thinking I am a degenerate, but this is a serious dilemma that I have to figure out here. 

I took Beanies suggestion and went a little deeper.  My roommate told me that they make breathalyzers that can be installed on cars to prevent drunk driving.  This might sound sick, but I am thinking it might be a smart investment to do some research and see if I could have this done with my computer.  My thinking is that even if it costs a thousand dollars to install, it might save me a lot more than that in the future.  Maybe I’m crazy, but I have to fix this problem, because waking up with that much money missing from my UB account and not even remembering how I lost it is worse than waking up next to….never mind….it sucks.

I think my luck is changing a bit.  As I am writing this, I made a nice hit and run at the $25-50 tables.  I bought in for $2000, which is kind of a small buy-in for that game, but after my AA somehow held up against K9 on a flop of 1062, I cashed out with just under $6k.  Many people who play the game do not like people who hit and run, but with the way I’ve been running this week, I had to get out of there. 

Even when things aren’t going my way, I try to stay positive.  I wont get all mushy, but sometimes, when I’m running bad with poker, I think about other people’s situations and realize how lucky I am and how silly it is to get upset over losing a little bit of money.  A phone call to the mom always cheers me up when I’m getting ruined at the tables, so thank you mom for being one cool lady. 

My goals for this week in poker are a little more laid back then usual.  Depending on the field, I would like to OWN Tuesday night, because it’s been a while since I have OWNED---2 weeks to be exact.  Nice 7th place finish in advance, Beanie, you are truly a player to look up to.  Hopefully it wont be like last week, with a bunch of people I don’t know, who play tight for the first hour.  I did 16 rebuys last week, and I didn’t know half the people who were playing.  Maybe they should make it PRIVATE.  Just joking.  I just hope everyone loosens up a little bit; I don’t expect 16 rebuys from everyone, but the tournament is suppose to be the most fun tournament on the internet, and stalling or playing tight is frowned upon by the regulars. 

Everyone should come and watch, and of course, insult Beanie.  Other then the OWNS tourney, I do not think I will be able to play many tournaments this week because school work is picking up, and everyone knows how much I love school (about as much as I love getting punched in the face by Mike Tyson after a day when he doesn’t take his medicine). 

I am going to concentrate on doing better in the big buy-in heads up sit and go’s than I have been doing lately.  Although I have been winning over 50% the past few weeks, I think my winning percentage should be a lot higher.  I have made some horrible decisions in the $500 and $1000 sit and go’s, and this is something that I am trying to work on.  Patience is key in the those things, and for whatever reason, I have been far from patient recently.  I think after a few wins in a row, I get way too cocky and don’t take each match as seriously as I should.  My thinking sometimes is such that if I lose one match, its no big deal, and that I will make it back with 2 wins a row.  This is a horrible way to treat this, and from now on I am going to concentrate on each game as well as I can, and I expect my results this week to be better then usual. 

I might take a few stabs at the $25-50 game as well, if the game conditions are right.  For whatever reason, I have been getting spanked by Big Wolf the past few weeks.  I usually like playing him HU, because he pays me off every time I have a big hand, but lately he’s been treating me like his own personal ATM.  Hopefully this week will go better.  Tonight’s $4k win in 30