Poker Again

Got back to playing live poker this weekend.  Booked a little win, but there's a lot to unpack about it.  My poker game is quite conventional, maybe a little boring.  But there are things that can make it a winning game.

Patience.  You cannot make winning at poker happen.  The right spots will come but you have no control over when.  If you try to force it, though, that will cost.  I'm learning this, and have been for years.  Maybe it'll sink in soon

Bankroll management is something the poker lessons tell you to do.  It turns out this includes managing your own mental state.  Poker players go "on tilt" all the time.  You need to recognize this in yourself, and get up.  In addition, with or without tilt, you need to acknowledge there will be swings in your bankroll.  Big ones.  Failing to recognize one such swing this weekend cost me a few hundred bucks for that session.  I should have seen the downswing starting and racked up what was still a pretty good win.  Instead I let it all bleed away, and then some.

Finally, a little luck never hurt anyone.

This was hard for me to believe at first.  When that Tc fell on the turn, I remember checking it three times, to be sure that it wasn't a spade.  This hand got me a small-ish pot, and a $200 bonus from the room for their Sunday promotion.  This was the first Royal I've gotten in quite a few years. 

More important, it's hard to overstate how much something like this will lift one's spirits.  After this hand, I was in such a lighter mood... it's probably not a coincidence that a small loss turned into a chunky win over the next couple hours.  Then I correctly realized it was time to rack up and go get a sandwich.  

I'm learning.