A Slave to Variance

I’ve been playing pretty poorly of late. There are a lot of reasons for this, and almost none of them good. I’ve decided resolve to try and play a little better. In pursuit of that goal, I’m gonna shift the focus of this web log to self a bit more self analysis, and possibly even improve my game just a tad. So prepare for an onslaught results and introspection.

Here’s to hoping that by the end of the year I’ll have earned all of my estimated tax payments to date.

First, and last, hand:

PokerStars Game #2874798765: Tournament #13081516, Hold'em No Limit - Level II (
15/30) - 2005/10/23 - 16:23:53 (ET)
Table '13081516 168' Seat #4 is the button
Seat 1: hotcookie42 (3965 in chips)
Seat 2: mackieinva (3625 in chips)
Seat 3: Troublecat (1590 in chips)
Seat 4: Quackers (1820 in chips)
Seat 5: aidave (1835 in chips) is sitting out
Seat 6: ticklemechip (1865 in chips) is sitting out
Seat 7: NZ Joe (1865 in chips) is sitting out
Seat 8: surflexus (1435 in chips)
aidave: posts small blind 15
ticklemechip: posts big blind 30
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Quackers [Tc Th]
NZ Joe: folds
surflexus: folds
hotcookie42: folds
mackieinva: raises 90 to 120
Troublecat: folds
Quackers: raises 1700 to 1820 and is all-in
aidave: folds
ticklemechip: folds
mackieinva: calls 1700
*** FLOP *** [5d 4d 7d]
*** TURN *** [5d 4d 7d] [Td]
*** RIVER *** [5d 4d 7d Td] [Ac]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
mackieinva: shows [Kd Ah] (a flush, King high)
Quackers: shows [Tc Th] (three of a kind, Tens)
mackieinva collected 3685 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 3685 | Rake 0
Board [5d 4d 7d Td Ac]
Seat 1: hotcookie42 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: mackieinva showed [Kd Ah] and won (3685) with a flush, King high
Seat 3: Troublecat folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: Quackers (button) showed [Tc Th] and lost with three of a kind, Tens
Seat 5: aidave (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 6: ticklemechip (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 7: NZ Joe folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: surflexus folded before Flop (didn't bet)

I sat down and played poker for four hours straight, four/five tabling the whole time. This is the first time since I’ve moved that I’ve actually put in some serious hours. I am now a poker zombie.

I’ve long been aware that what I do and what I think about can be as effective at mood alteration as alcohol or other mood altering substances.

Poker really pushes my brain into a hyper focused state which I assume allows me to better make snap decisions. This is good and bad. You don’t have much time to actually make the decisions, but sometimes you want to spend more than 2-3 seconds mulling on a decision. I’ve found that stopping, taking a moment, and thinking through the situation really helps my performance. I’m not sure that I’ll ever be able to move beyond four tables for extended periods of time. Even with only four tables, I sometimes get flustered.

When I’m done with the session, I usually feel very very detached, and an unable to focus on anything at all for long periods of time. I also experience a deep mental/physical exhaustion after longer sessions. It takes a surprising amount of calories to think, as opposed to just vegging. And I can feel it in my body when I’m done.

braaaaaains!