What's the Theme?

Let me tell you what sucks. Calling your child's pediatrician about your little fella maybe taking one of grandma's pills, only to be told, "You need to call poison control, and all they are going to do is tell you to take him to the hospital." Fortunately, poison control said everything was going to be fine. Senior Swab might be a little drowsy for a while, but he'll be OK. Of course, I followed up with a pharmacologist friend who concurred. It's nice knowing people who know things.

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The primary impediment to posting is the subject. Do people really want to hear my thoughts on poker? I feel as though I should take suggestions from the audience (all three of you) and write about your proposed topics.

sirfwalgman has been having a rough time of it seems according to his 2/11/05 post. I can sympathize with every word he says as I have been through it. I have run an initial deposit into a bankroll 15x the original size, decided I was so good I could move up in limits, and proceeded to run it back down to zero. My current bankroll is half the size it was a few weeks ago, five times the size it was two months ago. The trick for me is to stop the bleeding and refocus on what built it up in the first place. In my case it was the SNGs and MTT NL tourneys. The bad beat jackpots were so tempting and very profitable for a while. I moved from the 2/4 to "take a stab" at the 5/10 and actually held my own pretty well. I eventually hit a downswing, mainly back at the 2/4 level, and was only saved by top twenty finishes in a $50 MTT and a $100 MTT on Party to keep me from giving it all back.

Fortunately, I was able to step away from the tables for a weekend. We headed to the mountains for our second annual post-football blowout and did not even bring a deck of cards. It was cold, smoke got in eyes, I didn't catch any fish, the scotch ran out, but my mind cleared a bit and I was able to jump back in Sunday night with a new focus. I have stepped up to the $20 SNGs and have been placing in them at a rate double my rate at the $10 SNGs. The big MTTs on Friday and Saturday nights will also get my attention. I enjoy these more than anything else. I need something to pry me away from the keyboard when my focus shifts from long-term thinking to short-term. The short-term losses don't diminish my pleasure in the game. The problem arises when I try to force myself back into winning mode and the losses pile up. I have never used a stop-loss but am considering it now to ensure I can step away when I need to, to make the mental recovery needed to make the game profitable over the long haul. Forty-eight hours in the woods is a good start.

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? of the day

There are three of us left in a SNG and I am the big blind with the blinds at 200/400. The button raises all in to 950. The SB calls and has about 450 left after his call. I have the big stack and have AQd. I raise enough to put the SB all-in and he calls after cursing me for a minute. Was I wrong to make the raise? I figured I had the best hand and could win the whole thing right there. I do recognize there are some situations where it might be beneficial to call and check in order to knock out smaller stacks but I feel that tactic is one to be used primarily before the money placers are set. Once everyone left is in the money, anything goes. Also, the SB didn't have to call. He turned over KQs and the button had A10. A 10 came to give the button top pair and knocking out the SB. He hung around to harass me about my play until the tourney was over, which I won a few hands later. I normally have a terrible guilty conscience (another terrible trait for a lawyer) but this didn’t bother me a bit. Should it?

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Thanks to all of you who have commented. I will link to all of you who have and do in the future. Feel free to reciprocate if you wish. Special thanks to Iggy and Pauly who pimped me in their blogs.