If you haven't read my AIM profile by now, it's official: I'm taking a break from poker.
There are several reasons why I'm doing this. Financially, even though I'm playing okay (not great but OK), I can't afford it. I'm in pretty good debt with my credit card (non-poker related I swear); a lawyer that I'm trying to pay off; a semester of college that I need to somehow generate the money for this summer; a debt to Ryan F. (wired through e-passporte, lol), and I haven't even gotten to Cadence yet. So poker, as of right now, is not good look for me financially, especially with how I like to fully immerse myself into the game.
However...
This is by no means a retirement. I'm using the time off to my advantage from a poker standpoint, too. Think of it as a reflection period. My play is good enough to succeed against lesser players that I won't mention, but when I get to better games, I'm finding that my inability to adapt has been hurting me.
Here's the thing: it's been my belief since I started taking poker seriously that the most consistent players are the ones who are tight-aggressive. I can be tight-aggressive, but it seems like at the table I'm struggling for an identity. Ryan said something the other day that really raised my eyebrows. He said that I remind him of Mike Matusow: I can play solid for hours and then I go on a five minute donk fest, leaving me with nothing.
In short, I'm switching things up a little bit.
I'll catch you when I get back.
1 comment:
This is a good opportunity for you to indirectly improve your poker skills. It's been a while since we sat down and had a good discussion about the game, but there are some things that have helped my game away from the felt recently:
--Doing a greater analysis of the math behind poker - risk/reward, implied odds, and adjusting the numbers to set up your bets for the hand, not for the betting round. This has helped me manage my pot sizes better, though I still feel like that's something in my game that needs much improvement
--Experimenting with different poker-like games to improve your general game theory, especially for heads-up situations. I recommend backgammon and chess, both of which force you to be very purposeful and analytical in your decision-making process.
--Never watch poker on tv - ever. Read a book (poker or other) instead.
Once you get yourself back up I hope you'll come shuffle chips with me at the casinos in LA and Vegas - both of which will be close to my new home in San Francisco.
Cheers,
Matt
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