Back to the Drawing Board

Judging by the title of this post, how do you think I played last night?

The crazy thing is that I probably should have dumped a ton more money. I've played in a million sessions over the course of three and a half years, and I think last night was the worst six hours of poker I have ever played. I can't name one good thing I did last night.

Let me count the ways. First and foremost, I played far too fast. At least when playing online, a good hand percentage for me is seeing about 30% of the flops, and out of those 30% I want to be raising 75% of the time. I think it was more like 75%/90%. Also, I made some absolutely horrendous calls for a large sum of chips, and at times I even made the wrong laydowns. Nothing went right for me.

So, after the game I went home, tilted out of my mind. I felt like wounded prey, literally limping into my bedroom. I go to lay down, and suddenly I see a copy of the November issue Bluff Magazine. For whatever reason I decided to cycle through it, even though I thought I'd read everything. It appears as though I hadn't.

I thought Angel Largay gave great perspective on, well, putting your losses into perspective. However, for me nothing rang more true than the final paragraph:

"Poker is a people game. There is one person sitting in each game, though, that is the most dangerous to you; one person who can decimate your bankroll faster than anyone else – and he’s sitting in your seat. Get to know that player first."

Lord knows I'm trying.

For the year: +428.75