Rules

I've never really been a fan of hard and fast rules. Especially self-imposed ones. It seems like there really is an exception to every one. However, there certainly are some scenarios that require us to take a step back, access the situation, and make some clear distinctions between right and wrong, good and bad. I guess its human nature to create rules to ensure that certain things do or do not happen, but I still think they suck for the most part. By now you could be wondering where I'm heading with this.

I came to a crossroads poker-wise. I was confronted with two choices and felt compelled to come to a resolution.

1. I could maintain the course I'm on and be a marginal winner while enduring a huge amount of frustration. This is the easiest and probably slightly least painful choice. Easy because I wouldn't have ask myself tough questions or work through any complicated problems. Painful because I would have the same disappointing (to me) results and have to deal with knowing that I could do better if I really tried.

2. I could choose to change my ways and really put some effort into growing as a player and improving my results. This is an intimidating proposition to be sure. It is not easy to be honest with yourself and analyze your decisions objectively. It is not easy to go back and re-learn, to an extent, how to play a game so complex as No Limit Hold'em.

Obviously, I've chosen the ladder. I've chosen to dig deep into my inadequacies in an effort to erase them.

The first step down this path will be an exercise in damage control. In the recent past I had been playing too many tables, playing too long while losing, and playing while consciously tilted or off my game. These tendencies are like Black Death to a poker player and must end immediately. I've come up with a list of rules (yuck) to ensure that they do...

1. I will play only two tables at a time. This makes everything so much easier and will help me to re-learn patience.

2. I will not play if I've had less than 8 hours sleep the night before. It's really amazing how badly I can play when tired.

3. I will implement a 3 buy-in stop-loss policy. It's impossible to play you're best while losing a significant amount. If I lose more than 3 buy-ins in one day I will quit and not play again for at least 24hrs. No ifs, ands, or buts.

4. I will play only when I have at least two hours to do so. Trying "squeeze in a few quick hands" is almost always a bad idea. When I'm short on time and play anyway I feel anxious and rushed... not a good combination.

5. I will take a 10 minute break for every hour of play. It's important for me to take a few minutes and clear my mind. This will increase my level of focus at the tables.

6. I will not play while tilting. This one is sometimes hard to determine. If I think there is a 50% or greater chance that I'm tilting or starting to, I will quit and not play again until I am 100% sure that I'm playing my A game.

7. I will follow, as closely as possible, the starting hand recommendations of my coach. This will help me get back to basics and do a lot to "keep me out of trouble".

I plan on following these rules for at least the next 10k hands or so. After that I'll poke my head out and look around a little to determine where to go next.

LOL Blogaments

After much deliberation and procrastination I have decided to start blogging. This blog, at least initially, will primarily document my experiences playing the game of poker. I've been playing poker (mostly online) for roughly 3 years. Maybe someday I'll post more about my beginnings as a player but for now I'll just give a brief overview.

When I first discovered Texas Hold 'em, I read everything on the game that I could get my hands on. Books, essays, articles, online forums, etc. Just trying to absorb as much information as possible. I also had a group of good friends that played a lot and we spent a lot of time discussing hands and general strategy. I thoroughly benefited from all this and quickly became a winning player. As much as the money I won, I enjoyed the intellectual stimulation provided by the endless complexities of the game. I should note that I've always had a full-time job and considered poker a hobby with nice financial benefits.

Fast forwarding to today, I find myself in a very different climate. In the last few months I have struggled with the game. The endless curiosity that fueled my endless quest to learn and improve has somewhat wained. My "poker buddies", while still good friends, have taken various separate paths and generally don't play near as much as they used to. I too have the typical career, family, and social obligations that keep me from devoting as much time to the game as I would like. Also, the UIGEA has made it much tougher for new players in the US to get into online poker. As a result the skill level of the competition has increased greatly and the games have become much tougher. On top of all of that, I'm afraid I have developed a problem with controlling my emotions or "tilting" at the table.

All of this adds up to a serious source of frustration for me. In addition to these adverse conditions I feel as though my game has plateaued. I have grown lazy when it comes to continuously pushing he envelope in an effort to improve and it's shown in my results. I had a particularly nasty downswing in March and decided to take a break. Overall I was unhappy with my play and results and my confidence level was very low. I didn't play much in April and during that time I realized that if I was going to keep taking the game as seriously as I do, I would have to dig in and work some things out. This blog will be a sounding board for that process.

I plan on putting forth the time and effort to bring my game up to snuff and regain my confidence. I'm in the process of developing a plan of action and have even taken on a coach (something I've never done). I feel like I have a lot of work to do but at the same time I'm excited by the challenge. I'll be posting in detail about my progress and hopefully it will make for semi-interesting reading.





DO WORK SON!