Pleased that you ended the year in profit poker wise, keep us avid readers entertained by posting in the new year Steve. I obv don’t speak for everyone everyone 😉, but I’m pretty sure that the majority will echo my sentiments. Have a splendid meditation, and Happy times.
Pleased that you ended the year in profit poker wise, keep us avid readers entertained by posting in the new year Steve. I obv don’t speak for everyone everyone 😉, but I’m pretty sure that the majority will echo my sentiments. Have a splendid meditation, and Happy times.
Cheers Tom, lovely to have you here and hope happy times head your way, too. I'll try and update more regularly this year.
My semi-new self nearly unravelled within the first hour or so of 2018. Dropped 6-7 buy ins pretty much straight away and nearly beat up my computer and got drunk (I know: well hard) but I hung in there, got my head (sort of) right and was a couple of buy ins up by the time the sun rose. Progress, maybe.
Something of a minor poker miracle happened on Friday. Inspired by Jac35's Thursday night post I dropped five or six buy-ins in a couple of hours. Re-inspired by this thrilling turn of events, I continued to spaff off some more buy-ins, partly through playing bad but also (mainly) through running bad. Then I got in AA v AQ for 200 bigs, lost, and felt...nothing. Not even a sliver of tilt/loss of emotional control.
Ah, I thought, the cold showers and meditation and other things are working.
Saturday was not a great deal better. Buy-ins continued to seep out of my account but I didn't hit any inanimate objects and didn't really tilt. Then I did really start to tilt. Then today I continued to tilt and generally played horrifically but only hit one inanimate object, once.
That's something, I suppose.
Run bad hasn't been so much losing flips pre (although this has happened lots), or losing with 80%+ equity pre (although this has happened lots, too), or even getting it in on flops and losing way more than my fair share of sets v flush draws, and so on and so forth.
No, this has been more insidious run bad. Barrelling in position with strong draws in position and getting called down by fourth pair, flopped two pairs routinely getting counterfeited, hitting one of a few rivers where I pay off opponents, being floated out of position with villains having gutshots or back doors or one overcard and seemingly always getting there and me always paying them off because surely, this time, they can't have it*.
This isn't a moan by the way, despite it looking a lot like one. I actually welcome tragic runbad, perverse as it may seem. First, because the good times, when they do come, seem so much better. Second, it can toughen you up a bit. Third, and most importantly, whenever I've gone on a 30-ish buy-in downswing I've emerged a much better player. Downswings force you to properly examine your game, exploit smaller edges, hand read better, make better notes and so on. They do me, at least. I don't think any of my glorious upswings, on the other hand, have taught me anything. So, you know, I'm fine. Broke, but fine. Bring it on, poker gods.
Expect the next update to be along the lines of, "Actually, I'm a quivering husk. I hate downswings. I don't want to learn anything, I just want it to stop."
Expect the next update to be along the lines of, "Actually, I'm a quivering husk. I hate downswings. I don't want to learn anything, I just want it to stop."
It very nearly was this, you know. On Monday I played okay, ran better and scooped up a few buy-ins. On Tuesday, I donated 8 buy-ins in two hours. I didn't cover myself in glory. Tears, but not glory.
"Right," I thought, "this has got to stop" and so I self-excluded for 24 hours and took some time to think about things.
Today I sat on the beach in a t-shirt and in a notepad started to write two columns. Column A was "WHY I SHOULD GIVE UP POKER" with lots of points underneath; and Column B was "WHY I SHOULD GIVE UP THE IDEA OF GIVING UP POKER" with, probably, a roughly equal number of points.
Giving up giving up poker just about shaded it. Good old column B. So I came home, went through the usual new me blather - free range chicken, meditation, cold shower, reading, punch bag - then fired up four tables. A couple of hours later I was 12 buy ins up.
Years ago, a cold shower would invigorate me, or parts of me. Now everything just shrivels up.
Yo, Teacakes. Well, I stumbled across them more by serendipity by design - the boiler was taking some time off, I was in a hurry and hungover and needed a shower - and felt significantly more buoyant and just generally better after having one.
Since then I have read a handful of things (including academic papers) on the benefits of cold showers/immersion in cold water and the impact on psychological, cardiovascular and other types of health. Plus, it's more environmentally sound.
One other benefit I've found is that having a cold shower, especially when you really don't feel like one, makes other day-to-day hurdles and trivialities seem so much more getoverable. Yeah, that's probably not a word.
But yes, stuff shrivels.
I'm thinking about getting into cold water winter swimming, too. It helps that I'm minutes from the beach. If you ever find yourself in Bournemouth/Boscombe and fancy a dip, just say the word.
Have just flicked through the last page or so - very interesting to see your live hand history over at Bournemouth. Are any of your hands vs Tony by any chance?
Have just flicked through the last page or so - very interesting to see your live hand history over at Bournemouth. Are any of your hands vs Tony by any chance?
Ah, Tony. Tony, Tony, Tony. For much of last year he was swanning around Vegas, Canada and Europe playing the pokers and I barely saw him. The hand where villain folded a set wasn't against Tony, but the most capable card player in the room, imo. Stupid capable card players. That said, I have got into some interesting spots with Tony over the years.
Most of the regs you might remember - Tony, Robbie, Daryl, James - all seem to be playing elsewhere and the game can often be exceptional. As soon as I build up something of a roll again* I'll be back playing regularly - come and say hi if you're about. Pete's still around though - and is actually pretty good now. Mostly.
*and not just a roll, some psychological resilience. I sat down and realised the other day how much I spaffed off on booze, taxis, cigarettes etc. when playing and it helped me realise why my hourly rate is probably half what it could be (if you're making, say, 10 bigs an hour and 5.5 of those bigs every hour are going on a pint/tip then, well, then it really carves into your profit. I'm rambling - good luck with your challenge, will follow with interest.)
I imagine you walking down a dark alley and some hoodies surround you ,asking for your wallet and phone and your like F**k off , do one, ive had a cold shower.
I imagine you walking down a dark alley and some hoodies surround you ,asking for your wallet and phone and your like F**k off , do one, ive had a cold shower.</blockquote
Last Sunday evening I had £12 in my account. Anti-brm ftw, it seems, because 35-40 buy-ins have found their way into my account over the last handful of days and things are looking much healthier. Plus promo/rakeback to come tomorrow. Was going to maxally my way into getting more rakeback and nudge up the leaderboard but have decided to not do too much maxallying today and have plumped for meditation, a bit of time on the punchbag, cold shower, then lunch out - regular readers will be familiar with, and no doubt bored by, the usual guff.
In fact, they might not be the only ones bored by it. This worthy self-improvement feels good but it's ever-so-slightly dull. I want to go out and do things - things that probably aren't very good for me. As some sort of compromise I've booked myself into a hotel about a mile away from my house for two nights this week so that I can read, swim, sauna, loaf around in a Jacuzzi, grind, and generally feel like I'm having some sort of break (from what, I don't quite know). It's something, I suppose. Bournemouth's the nuts in the winter as you can get at least so-so rooms in hotels with spas during January and February for £25-35 per night.
Very nice recovery there Steve - you certainly appear to be Mr Roller Coaster! I guess the next time someone posts questions about variance in the forum we'd best send them straight to your diary.
Enjoy your getaway (there's no minimum distance required for that term to qualify is there?!) and finger crossed the upswing continues .
Comments
I obv don’t speak for everyone everyone 😉, but I’m pretty sure that the majority will echo my sentiments.
Have a splendid meditation, and Happy times.
And if you don't post, tomgoodun might just shout at you, & beat you up. He has history for it, you know.
My semi-new self nearly unravelled within the first hour or so of 2018. Dropped 6-7 buy ins pretty much straight away and nearly beat up my computer and got drunk (I know: well hard) but I hung in there, got my head (sort of) right and was a couple of buy ins up by the time the sun rose. Progress, maybe.
All the best - the meditation was the nuts.
Something of a minor poker miracle happened on Friday. Inspired by Jac35's Thursday night post I dropped five or six buy-ins in a couple of hours. Re-inspired by this thrilling turn of events, I continued to spaff off some more buy-ins, partly through playing bad but also (mainly) through running bad. Then I got in AA v AQ for 200 bigs, lost, and felt...nothing. Not even a sliver of tilt/loss of emotional control.
Ah, I thought, the cold showers and meditation and other things are working.
Saturday was not a great deal better. Buy-ins continued to seep out of my account but I didn't hit any inanimate objects and didn't really tilt. Then I did really start to tilt. Then today I continued to tilt and generally played horrifically but only hit one inanimate object, once.
That's something, I suppose.
Run bad hasn't been so much losing flips pre (although this has happened lots), or losing with 80%+ equity pre (although this has happened lots, too), or even getting it in on flops and losing way more than my fair share of sets v flush draws, and so on and so forth.
No, this has been more insidious run bad. Barrelling in position with strong draws in position and getting called down by fourth pair, flopped two pairs routinely getting counterfeited, hitting one of a few rivers where I pay off opponents, being floated out of position with villains having gutshots or back doors or one overcard and seemingly always getting there and me always paying them off because surely, this time, they can't have it*.
This isn't a moan by the way, despite it looking a lot like one. I actually welcome tragic runbad, perverse as it may seem. First, because the good times, when they do come, seem so much better. Second, it can toughen you up a bit. Third, and most importantly, whenever I've gone on a 30-ish buy-in downswing I've emerged a much better player. Downswings force you to properly examine your game, exploit smaller edges, hand read better, make better notes and so on. They do me, at least. I don't think any of my glorious upswings, on the other hand, have taught me anything. So, you know, I'm fine. Broke, but fine. Bring it on, poker gods.
Expect the next update to be along the lines of, "Actually, I'm a quivering husk. I hate downswings. I don't want to learn anything, I just want it to stop."
Happy Sunday evening, all.
* oh, but they do.
It very nearly was this, you know. On Monday I played okay, ran better and scooped up a few buy-ins. On Tuesday, I donated 8 buy-ins in two hours. I didn't cover myself in glory. Tears, but not glory.
"Right," I thought, "this has got to stop" and so I self-excluded for 24 hours and took some time to think about things.
Today I sat on the beach in a t-shirt and in a notepad started to write two columns. Column A was "WHY I SHOULD GIVE UP POKER" with lots of points underneath; and Column B was "WHY I SHOULD GIVE UP THE IDEA OF GIVING UP POKER" with, probably, a roughly equal number of points.
Giving up giving up poker just about shaded it. Good old column B. So I came home, went through the usual new me blather - free range chicken, meditation, cold shower, reading, punch bag - then fired up four tables. A couple of hours later I was 12 buy ins up.
Poker. **** ****.
What's this "cold shower" stuff all about?
Is it supposed to be in some way good for us?
Years ago, a cold shower would invigorate me, or parts of me. Now everything just shrivels up.
Since then I have read a handful of things (including academic papers) on the benefits of cold showers/immersion in cold water and the impact on psychological, cardiovascular and other types of health. Plus, it's more environmentally sound.
One other benefit I've found is that having a cold shower, especially when you really don't feel like one, makes other day-to-day hurdles and trivialities seem so much more getoverable. Yeah, that's probably not a word.
But yes, stuff shrivels.
I'm thinking about getting into cold water winter swimming, too. It helps that I'm minutes from the beach. If you ever find yourself in Bournemouth/Boscombe and fancy a dip, just say the word.
Most of the regs you might remember - Tony, Robbie, Daryl, James - all seem to be playing elsewhere and the game can often be exceptional. As soon as I build up something of a roll again* I'll be back playing regularly - come and say hi if you're about. Pete's still around though - and is actually pretty good now. Mostly.
*and not just a roll, some psychological resilience. I sat down and realised the other day how much I spaffed off on booze, taxis, cigarettes etc. when playing and it helped me realise why my hourly rate is probably half what it could be (if you're making, say, 10 bigs an hour and 5.5 of those bigs every hour are going on a pint/tip then, well, then it really carves into your profit. I'm rambling - good luck with your challenge, will follow with interest.)
I imagine you walking down a dark alley and some hoodies surround you ,asking for your wallet and phone and your like F**k off , do one, ive had a cold shower.
Paging @SR23 paging @SR23
Morning Cold Shower Bloke.
Yesterday - Friday - was "Weekly Report" day on Fat & Puffers Club.
Every member reported in - except one.
Anyone wanna guess who it is?
Last Sunday evening I had £12 in my account. Anti-brm ftw, it seems, because 35-40 buy-ins have found their way into my account over the last handful of days and things are looking much healthier. Plus promo/rakeback to come tomorrow. Was going to maxally my way into getting more rakeback and nudge up the leaderboard but have decided to not do too much maxallying today and have plumped for meditation, a bit of time on the punchbag, cold shower, then lunch out - regular readers will be familiar with, and no doubt bored by, the usual guff.
In fact, they might not be the only ones bored by it. This worthy self-improvement feels good but it's ever-so-slightly dull. I want to go out and do things - things that probably aren't very good for me. As some sort of compromise I've booked myself into a hotel about a mile away from my house for two nights this week so that I can read, swim, sauna, loaf around in a Jacuzzi, grind, and generally feel like I'm having some sort of break (from what, I don't quite know). It's something, I suppose. Bournemouth's the nuts in the winter as you can get at least so-so rooms in hotels with spas during January and February for £25-35 per night.
Have a banging week, all.
Enjoy your getaway (there's no minimum distance required for that term to qualify is there?!) and finger crossed the upswing continues
A banging week to you, too.
And try to keep up the anti-smoking efforts please.