Sunday, June 06, 2004

Weekend of Doom

This could be long.....

Obviously poker is a game of mental fortitude; and to perform well, your mind must be in top form. When I woke up Saturday morning, I had $813 in my bankroll and was less than $200 from breaking even in my long term goal of recouping my stupidly spent $2100.

Then the phone rang.

It was my mom. I don't normally get phone calls from my parents unless there's a computer problem that they need fixing. But this was kind of early in the morning, and I thought something may be amiss. My wife was out running errands while my kids were playing video games and I was still in bed when I picked up the receiver.

Turns out she had a small growth removed from her chest, a malignant one. Not good. The big "C." I really didn't quite know how to take it. She seemed to be taking it well as it is still very early and the mass removed was very small, only about 3mm. So her good spirits and calm demeanor was good to hear, but still, it's quite bad news.

After speaking with her and my dad for a bit, I logged on for some Saturday Party Poker action. This was either the first or second stupidest idea I've had in the last calendar year based on the results.

I knew I'd be playing a lot of poker this weekend, since my wife's brother's family is visiting and we get to be hosts. I have trouble staying in a good mood around them, mainly due to the fact that they parent so differently than we do. For example, the first night they were here, their 3 yr. old stayed up past both my kids and my wife. Their schedule is so much different than ours, and since my wife and I like to have some quiet time at night, this deviation from the norm was a bit annoying.

So I begin Saturday's foray into poker by getting crushed at the $2/4 tables. Absolutely crushed. The poker gods shat on me like a salmonella victim who accidently downed some Exlax chocolates. I went with a buddy to some $5/10 tables to "quickly" recoup my losses. Duh. Didn't happen. Tilt became off-balance became totally collapsing.

So I play some more on Sunday. More duh.

Here are some hands I lost in the two hours I played Sunday evening:

Me - Them - Pot
AA - 77 - $25
AA - J8 - $47
QQ - AJ - $16 (not completely bogus)
trip 5's - Flush on the river - $38
A3 - 63 - $37
AT - 93 - $50
KQ - TJ - $30
KQs - 78 - $71 (with a Q on flop no less)


So right now I sit here typing away, very much down in real life and in poker life. I think the decision that makes the most sense is to take a bit of a break from online poker and come back with a fresh mindset and renewed enthusiasm. I've come close to my goal, so I know it's attainable. This is hopefully but a bump in the road.

I should also learn to put poker into perspective as there are obviously more important things out there. Patience and perspective, patience and perspective, patience and perspective....

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