Maybe I need some Mango

Oh, Daddy's back? I can stop my boycott and write again now.

So, I have taken a few weeks off writing and reading for the most part as work has been a bear. I have had the intent to follow up on the Focus series but have been unable to muster the zone-like intensity required to write such in-depth crap. What I have been able to do though is break through one fault I have had since the beginning of my online play. This problem is especially insidious as it comes on the heels of great success. Riding high one moment, a player is laid low by hubris and self-donkey play, the same play in others that let the player accumulate a nice streak to begin with.

A few times, the old bankroll has been built up due to a run of good play coupled with good cards. What do YOU do when you run $100 up to $1000 in a few weeks of playing $20 sit-n-goes and $25 NL? Me? I like to jump up in levels, play four tables at a time, drop into a couple of $150 MTTs, and generally go all Costanza and do exactly the opposite that got me $1000 to begin with. A few weeks (or days) later, it’s time to redeposit $100 and start again.

This pattern has changed a bit over the last year or so as big jumps in the bankroll have been dealt with more judiciously. I have made a few forays into the higher levels, but, not having the proper bankroll, have been able to stop myself before causing too much damage. The one thing I have done is hit some of the MTTs in an attempt to make a big score. The results have been generally positive. Over the last two weeksm there has been a final table in a 650 player LHE, an 11th in a 550 player LHE, two in-the-money endings in the big PP NLHE weekend MTTs and a number of final tables on Noble and True Poker, including an honest to goodness win in an O8 tourney. Unfortunately, there were only 15 players in that one.

What’s the moral then? Quit when you are ahead? Have your spouse stand behind you a give a whack with a cricket bat when you try to play above your head? Take your winnings to the track and put it all on a horse with your name? How about focus on what got you success in the first place? I don’t have the time, means, courage, skill required to make a living out of poker. Why do I need to move up so fast then? I really don’t. Boy, it took a long time to admit that. My natural tendency is to test myself against tougher odds, opponents, games, whatever it takes to satisfy my competitive nature. The old adage about "the next best thing to gambling and winning is gambling and losing" is not quite true for me. A truer statement would be "the next best thing to competing and winning is competing and losing." Good gracious, I hate to lose, but I do so love to compete. Now I just have to figure out what “winning” is.