Yes, I teach...I teach, donkiness...
As usual I play the Thursday night game with some friends. It started out as a poker school, even though someone of my poker knowledge should not be teaching begineers how to play, but, due to the fact that my knowledge of poker makes me look like Howard Lederer compared to them, they decided to call it a "school", leaving me to be the teacher.
It all started out innocently enough, four of five guys getting together to shoot the breeze and throw a little cash around for the hell of it. I was hoping for a decent turnout each time, six of seven players would bring in enough cash to make it worthwhile to play.
Its been over three months, in those three months, the largest table we have seen is 6 people, with a grand total of 200 dollars on the table. I got most of the money that night, but not all of it. For some time I was leaving with a decent profit for 3 hours of play, and coast into the weekend looking forward to the 1/2 games to make more, or lose all my money.
Lately though, Ive been so behind on the bills that I always look to Thursday as a time to get a break from the "grind" of poker. Ive been playing horribly bad at my regular 1/2 homegames, desperate to make some money so I can catch up on bills, when in reality Im simply using the money I could have sent towards one of those bills that needs to be caught up on, this is doing nothing but making me completely frustrated with my play, then angry with my play, then retarded with my play.
Let me proceed with this by saying I am not hurting my life, family, standard of life, in any way by using this money for poker instead of bills. Everything gets payed, it just takes me a month or two longer to get it all back to square one. If I took one month off of poker, one month, I would be back in the black, and pissing all my extra money away to the donkies I play with.
Ok, back to the story. I let myself get to the point where every decision I make I second guess, that it turn just puts me on a tilt I dont need to be on. I let people play me, Ive talked with a few friends and they all agree, if I could control my temper better, I could play more solidly. I would love to listen to them, I just dont remember it when Im watching someone scoop a pot with a horrible flush, when I slow played my set, knowing they were drawing to a flush. Or flopping a flush, and letting someone get cheap cards to fill up on a boat. My play was getting better, and now, it just seems like Im regressing back to the fish I started out as.
Anyways, back to the friendly game on Thursdays. Thursdays work for me because, one, Fridays are relatively easy at my work, two, its the closest game in town for me, and three, its a bunch of predictable players, who I can usually get a little cash off of, while having fun.
Guess where this is going? Yes, all these Thursday night players used to be predictable. Not any longer. I have given a few pointers here and there, they have picked up a few things here and there, and now, here and there, they win with some insanely bad hands that I let myself get drawn out on.
The past two games I havent made one damn penny. This was supposed to be fun. Well, Jay isnt making any money, so its not fun anymore. I feel some good come from the fact that these guys are trusting their own instincts more, and calling where they would normally fold, or pushing where they normally wouldnt, or calling because of pot odds, and decent draws. And thats taken me back to all the other games I play, where I see a horrible hand win, and I start to let my temper flare, then I let the retardedness follow.
Where do I go from here? Get back to ABC poker? Take a month or two off like I want to? What? Learn how to play all over again? How do you do that? Everyone has slumps, everyone goes through low times. When am I going to get back on that high? Only time will tell. I know one thing for sure though, these past few months have been really frustrating after starting off the year on a great run.
It all started out innocently enough, four of five guys getting together to shoot the breeze and throw a little cash around for the hell of it. I was hoping for a decent turnout each time, six of seven players would bring in enough cash to make it worthwhile to play.
Its been over three months, in those three months, the largest table we have seen is 6 people, with a grand total of 200 dollars on the table. I got most of the money that night, but not all of it. For some time I was leaving with a decent profit for 3 hours of play, and coast into the weekend looking forward to the 1/2 games to make more, or lose all my money.
Lately though, Ive been so behind on the bills that I always look to Thursday as a time to get a break from the "grind" of poker. Ive been playing horribly bad at my regular 1/2 homegames, desperate to make some money so I can catch up on bills, when in reality Im simply using the money I could have sent towards one of those bills that needs to be caught up on, this is doing nothing but making me completely frustrated with my play, then angry with my play, then retarded with my play.
Let me proceed with this by saying I am not hurting my life, family, standard of life, in any way by using this money for poker instead of bills. Everything gets payed, it just takes me a month or two longer to get it all back to square one. If I took one month off of poker, one month, I would be back in the black, and pissing all my extra money away to the donkies I play with.
Ok, back to the story. I let myself get to the point where every decision I make I second guess, that it turn just puts me on a tilt I dont need to be on. I let people play me, Ive talked with a few friends and they all agree, if I could control my temper better, I could play more solidly. I would love to listen to them, I just dont remember it when Im watching someone scoop a pot with a horrible flush, when I slow played my set, knowing they were drawing to a flush. Or flopping a flush, and letting someone get cheap cards to fill up on a boat. My play was getting better, and now, it just seems like Im regressing back to the fish I started out as.
Anyways, back to the friendly game on Thursdays. Thursdays work for me because, one, Fridays are relatively easy at my work, two, its the closest game in town for me, and three, its a bunch of predictable players, who I can usually get a little cash off of, while having fun.
Guess where this is going? Yes, all these Thursday night players used to be predictable. Not any longer. I have given a few pointers here and there, they have picked up a few things here and there, and now, here and there, they win with some insanely bad hands that I let myself get drawn out on.
The past two games I havent made one damn penny. This was supposed to be fun. Well, Jay isnt making any money, so its not fun anymore. I feel some good come from the fact that these guys are trusting their own instincts more, and calling where they would normally fold, or pushing where they normally wouldnt, or calling because of pot odds, and decent draws. And thats taken me back to all the other games I play, where I see a horrible hand win, and I start to let my temper flare, then I let the retardedness follow.
Where do I go from here? Get back to ABC poker? Take a month or two off like I want to? What? Learn how to play all over again? How do you do that? Everyone has slumps, everyone goes through low times. When am I going to get back on that high? Only time will tell. I know one thing for sure though, these past few months have been really frustrating after starting off the year on a great run.
posted by SoveriegnOne at 11:56 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home